After a difficult start to the season, Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff decided to work with all team members to make the Mercedes W15 even more competitive. The upcoming race weekend in Australia should provide the first opportunity for that.
“We dropped points in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia,” says Toto Wolff, Mercedes' head of motorsport, in Mercedes' preview of the Australian Grand Prix. “We started both races strongly at the weekend, doing our usual training programs but were unable to deliver on our initial promises. With everyone getting closer together, maximizing the potential of the car each weekend is very important.
“Albert Park gives us another opportunity to show what we can do. It's a great track in a great city, where passionate fans make their voice heard, and we're looking forward to getting back.”
After the race in Jeddah, Toto Wolff said there was a structural problem with the Mercedes W15, but he hoped there would be an improvement from next weekend.
“We have worked hard since Jeddah to learn from the first two races,” said Toto Wolff. “It is encouraging to see the potential of the W15 but clearly there are still areas that can be improved. We looked competitive in slow and medium speed corners, but very fast corners are our weakness.”
“We have worked hard to understand why our performance did not meet our expectations. Improvement is our main focus.”
“We hope we can make some progress in Melbourne and that this work will steer our developments in the right direction over the coming weeks. It's great to see the energy and dedication from both manufacturers as we try to unleash the potential of the car.”
