Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff opened up about their car performance, McLaren’s advantages, and concerns over legality after yet another solid weekend at the F1 Miami GP.
Whilst Kimi Antonelli snatched pole ahead of the rapid McLaren duo and shined in Sprint qualifying, George Russell secured his fourth podium of the season last Sunday after benefitting massively from the timing of the second Virtual Safety Car.
Nonetheless, Mercedes had no answer to McLaren’s superior race pace in Miami. Russell took the chequered flag a whopping 37 seconds behind the victorious Oscar Piastri, and the young Italian rookie crossed the line in sixth place.
Mercedes unable to maximise tyre performance over race distance like McLaren
Speaking in a print media session after the race, Toto Wolff clarified that he wasn’t frustrated by the overall performance of the Pirelli rubber. Emphasising how they are faring really well over a single lap, he explained that, unlike McLaren, they are unable to replicate that performance over race distance.
Offering further elaboration after the F1 Miami GP, Wolff specifically highlighted how the McLaren drivers and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen are able to navigate their cars through the corners faster without overheating their tyres.
“No, I didn’t mean it in that. It wasn’t a negative remark on the tyres at all.
“It is simply that we have a really fast car. I believe on a single lap or on a few laps, absolute where it can be. But we are just not good with the tyres over an extended run. And McLaren shows how it’s being done to a degree.
“I think that Red Bull with Max [Verstappen], they are managing it better. Also tricky performances.
“I would say we are solid in what we are doing. But they are definitely doing an excellent job by being able to go fast around the corners without overheating them. So this is what we need to look up to and engineer our way to the top.”
Wolff absolutely confident that McLaren’s gains are legit
Alluding to the investigation that Red Bull have conducted against the Woking-based team with regard to supposedly employing illegal tyre and brake cooling tricks, Toto Wolff was resolute in defending their integrity despite McLaren securing a dominant 1-2 finish at the F1 Miami GP.
Remarking that it’s unfair to level allegations of cheating against a team just because they are ahead of the rest of the field, the Austrian stated that he is absolutely confident about McLaren working within the purview of the rules. Moreover, he added that their advantage stems from understanding and utilising the tyres better than everyone else.
“I think the team around Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella], Rob Marshall, these are good people with integrity.
“You know, in the past you often say, well, let’s look at whether there is something on the borderline. But I have no doubt that these guys stay within the rules.
“It’s just really good development of the car. They have understood how to manage the tyre much better than everybody else.
“And in my opinion, it’s totally legit. Also, from a team management point of view, we should never, when somebody is doing a better job than you, we should not look at that and say they are cheating. Because that’s not the right attitude anyway.
“So we just need to become better and eventually not get 30 or 35 seconds over 55 laps.”
Wolff believes McLaren gained their advantage from better mechanical development
In respect of McLaren’s unparalleled control over tyre temperatures and how important it is to gain an in-depth understanding of their recipe before they carry that advantage forward to next season, Toto Wolff admitted after the F1 Miami GP that he doesn’t have the answers yet.
Nevertheless, the 53-year-old claimed that a team can take a meaningful step forward if they focus on honing the mechanical development of the car. While he refused to elaborate on what the principal performance contributors are, he maintained that Mercedes are confident about arriving at a solution and challenging the McLaren drivers in the near future.
“I don’t know. But I think if you put a lot of emphasis on how you develop the car mechanically, then you will have an advantage.
“It started two years ago in Austria. They [McLaren] brought an update that was much better than they expected. And part of the development since then was also nurturing the tyres in the right way.
“And yeah, we just need to be better. We just need to understand. We need to find out where we need to focus our attention in terms of development.
“What are the main performance contributors? And we are on it. Completely on it. So it’s not like we are looking at it like a bunny in front of the headlights.
“We are on it; we are in there; we are trying to find out. We are experimenting. And we are going to definitely be able to challenge.”
Mercedes still struggling with balance in hotter conditions in comparison to McLaren
Mercedes particularly thrived in the cooler conditions last year, with three of their last four wins coming in races where temperatures were noticeably lower.
With regard to how much progress they have made in comparison to McLaren in terms of making their tyres work in diverse conditions this season, Toto Wolff responded that they are in a better spot. However, highlighting the versatility of the MCL39, he revealed that they are still finding it tricky to optimise the balance of the W16 when the track temperatures are higher than usual.
“Much better.
“So we were really cold in the ice. Arctic conditions in Silverstone. We were good in Spa. We were good in Las Vegas. So you can definitely still see a kind of similar pattern.
“Now I think we solved a lot of balance issues from last year. So front and rear are in a much better spot.
“But you know when it’s hot, the balance is not where it needs to be ideally. Then McLaren is just better.”
