Toto Wolff and Mercedes ready to turn the page after a ‘bruising’ Austrian Grand Prix
It was not one of the best of weekends for Mercedes within the Styrian Hills.
The group managed only a single level within the F1 Dash race, and fared little higher within the Austrian Grand Prix, with George Russell ending seventh and Lewis Hamilton behind him in eighth. However because the group appears to be like forward to their dwelling race, Group Principal Toto Wolff believes they’ll bounce again “instantly.”
“We’re happy to get again racing after a bruising weekend in Austria. We scored a handful of factors, however we didn’t have the tempo for far more. The sector behind Purple Bull is extremely shut and likewise fluctuating every weekend. A few of that is circuit-specific, and a few the improve cycle throughout the grid,” stated Wolff within the group’s media preview forward of the British Grand Prix. “We fell on the mistaken aspect of this equation in Spielberg, however we’ve acquired an opportunity to bounce again instantly.”
Silverstone, positioned only a few miles down the highway from Mercedes F1’s headquarters in Brackley, has all the time been good for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion gained three-straight races from 2019-2021, and completed third there a season in the past.
Whereas it has not been as sort to George Russell, whose greatest end at Silverstone throughout his Williams days was twelfth and he retired in final 12 months’s race in his debut Mercedes season, the group is hoping that current upgrades mixed with how the W14 handles high-speed corners ought to go well with them this week.
“The group has been laborious at work to analyse and draw learnings from our efficiency. We’ve got taken the end result on the chin and can purpose to recapture the momentum we had constructed up throughout earlier races,” stated Wolff. “With the subsequent upgrades and experiments coming in Silverstone, there are causes for optimism. However, we aren’t getting forward of ourselves. We’re centered on the job at hand, extracting efficiency from the automobile, and can see the place we stand this weekend.”
“Our efficiency is clearly circuit dependent now. We had been nowhere right here however good in Montreal and Barcelona,” stated Russell himself following the Austrian Grand Prix. “That bodes nicely for Silverstone as that could be a circuit extra much like Barcelona than Austria, so we’re excited for subsequent weekend’s British Grand Prix. We will probably be aiming to return again stronger.”
If nothing else, the home-race surroundings ought to present a further enhance to the group.
“The British Grand Prix is among the highlights of the season. The environment at Silverstone is exclusive and the help from the followers is really unimaginable. It’s additionally our native race, with the monitor simply down the highway from the factories in Brackley and Brixworth,” stated Wolff. “It’s a quick and flowing format which creates nice racing, so hopefully we will carry out nicely and placed on a great present.”
