Unwilling to Lose $11,000,000, Toto Wolff Dismisses Lewis Hamilton’s Wishes to Set Clear Goal for Mercedes

Red Bull is far ahead of every other team this season, charging toward the red that is the championship. That’s an outcome every team has accepted. But their acceptance doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t at least try to catch up to it at some point in 2023, least of all Mercedes. While the Brackley squad started the season on the back foot, it’s made developments that have propelled it to P2 in the championship. And according to Toto Wolff, Mercedes has no intention of relinquishing that position.

The finishing order in the Constructors’ Championship is crucial for teams because that’s what decides how much prize money they’ll get at the end of the season. With its newfound pace, McLaren is back contending toward the front of the field. And Mercedes is its main contender for P2 now. Although the Woking team is more than 100 points behind Mercedes, it’s been catching up, putting Mercedes’ hold on P2 at threat. The difference in prize money between P2 ($157.2 million) and P3 ($146.4 million) in the championship is more than $11 million, and that’s what hangs in the balance for Mercedes. 

A few weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton said, “We have made great progress in recent weeks, but it is not easy to predict where it will take us. We have to aim to be competitive from the first test in 2024.” While Hamilton believes Mercedes should shift their focus to 2024 rather than spending resources to develop the W14, Toto Wolff thinks otherwise. As per motorsportweek.com, he said, “I wouldn’t want to give up any season,” because that’s what shifting focus would be like. And instead of seeing McLaren as a threat, Wolff is taking inspiration from it.

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He continued, “You can see how McLaren has leapfrogged everybody else with an update that they didn’t expect to be that powerful. We just need to continue working, chipping away at our understanding and unlocking potential in the car as did Aston Martin over the winter or McLaren during the season. We won’t give up.” With Lewis Hamilton and his W14’s recent performance at the Hungarian GP, Mercedes seems to be already making steps toward Wolff’s goal.

Toto Wolff & Co. undoubtedly unlocked some of the W14’s potential in Hungary

The Hungaroring is a track that suited Mercedes in the past. And although the Brackley outfit wasn’t expecting too much at the circuit this time around, Lewis Hamilton surprised everyone by clinching a record-extending 104th pole position, edging out Max Verstappen by 0.003 seconds. Even though he couldn’t convert the pole into a win, the team took positives from the race weekend, owing to its strong one-lap pace and race pace.

After introducing an updated front wing in Silverstone, Mercedes reaped the rewards in the slow-paced Hungaroring, which helped it manoeuver slow corners better than it did all season. While discussing the impact this result would have on the team on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Nico Rosberg said, “For motivation, it’s huge for the team because you start to believe again. ‘Hey, we can be on pole. We can win races very soon.’ It just gives you this belief back, and that will be such a motivational booster.”

Can Mercedes keep chipping away like Toto Wolff said and maybe catch Red Bull by the end of the season, or will it succumb to McLaren’s threat?

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