Unafraid Of Lacklustre Form, Mercedes Looking At China With Optimism

If there could be two eras that could perhaps sufficiently explain the divergence in the kind of form Mercedes have had in the top flight of motorsport, then rewinding back to the period of 2014-2020 and then 2021 onwards up until this point, would do the trick.

The former was a period of time where pole positions, mega race wins and epic fastest laps and at times, the grand slam itself belonged to Mercedes thanks to the Woking team demonstrating iron-fisted dominance in the sport.

And the latter, arguably speaking, is the period of time that marks the Mercedes team in doldrums, which arguably speaking coincides with the the onset of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen winning the driver’s title in 2021 and dominating the sport to the present day.

No longer does one find the Toto Wolff-led team delivering backbreaking performances that are marked with elan and sensational race wins. As a matter of fact, if anything, then the 2024 season in its current wake has marked the worst start to a certain Lewis Hamilton’s otherwise glorious career which is underlined by seven world titles.

At the recent Australian Grand Prix, clinched brilliantly by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Mercedes suffered a double DNF with both Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell retiring from the contest.

The W15 doesn’t seem to be performing with sufficient race pace that could threaten McLaren and Aston Martin that happen to be Mercedes’ closest rivals.

But despite of the ongoing issues that seem to be a persistent cause of the worry for the team’s famed Austrian team principal, it appears as though Toto Wolff isn’t that bothered about the imminent future.

He pointed to a sense of optimism and focus when speaking very recently to a publication on the next approaching Formula 1 Grand Prix, the race at China that is due on April 21, 2024.

Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, the very passionate and successful Toto Wolff happened to share the following insights:

“It will be an interesting weekend on track. With new cars, new tires, and changes to the track surface since we last raced in China, there will be plenty of unknowns.”

“The headline results didn’t necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan. We are looking forward to building on that this weekend.”

Thus far, both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton feature inside the top ten of the Drivers’ Standings for 2024. But here’s where the trouble is- with a collective tally of 34 points between them, the Mercedes duo is some 21 points adrift of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr, who happens to be fourth on the list behind Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc, in that order.

How strong a race weekend can Mercedes produce in what lies ahead might just be one of the closest things to watch in the sport at this time.