Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes team, is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming 2023 Formula 1 season because he thinks expectations should be “realistic.”
The team struggled in the 2022 season. They managed just one victory and ended an eight-race winning streak in the Constructors’ Championship. The winners were Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari.
Following a significant change in the rules of the game, the Silver Arrows’ W13 had trouble with bouncing. They did, however, get better as the season went on. By the end, they had closed the gap to the top two teams.
Toto Wolff is confident in Mercedes’ chances as the upcoming season approaches. He does not, however, anticipate the team to start off by challenging Red Bull and Ferrari.
Toto Wolff said to Sky Sports: “There is no doubt that it will be challenging to catch up to renowned organizations like Red Bull and Ferrari when you start behind by half a second. Having said that, we are very committed to achieving this goal, but we must maintain reasonable expectations.”
Toto Wolff continued: “We would like to participate in the racing at the very front if we perform as we anticipate. Although we don’t take that for granted, I believe that would be a good place to start. It’s possible that the gaps are the same as they were at the end of the previous season.”
Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff claims that the F1 cost cap has helped “protect us from ourselves.”
Prior to the 2021 F1 season, the FIA implemented new cost cap regulations that prohibited teams from spending more on R&D than a predetermined cap. Toto Wolff, the team principal for Mercedes, has praised the modification.
Toto Wolff was grateful for the spending cap regulations. It is because he thinks they enable the best midfield teams to compete with the front-runners.
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“The expense cap set by Chase Carey [former executive chairman of F1] to protect us from ourselves.“ Toto Wolff continued, “was the fundamental adjustment.”
The lesser teams were not competitive, he said, since Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes were engaged in a spending battle inside their own league. In advance of the next Formula 1 season, Toto Wolff argues that his Mercedes team should not be written off.
The Silver Arrows suffered last year with an underperforming vehicle. They finished third in the Championship behind Red Bull and Ferrari after winning eight consecutive constructors’ championships from 2014 to 2021.
