“Our organization can dig ourselves out” - Toto Wolff plans Mercedes’ F1 recovery with a ‘new mindset’ 

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the team can pull themselves out of the current situation and improve with a positive mindset.

The first two races were rather disappointing for Mercedes as the W15 was expected to be challenging with the teams at the top. However, certain issues have been explored within the car which have hampered their performance once again.

Heading to Australia next, Toto Wolff revealed that he has changed his mindset, further revealing the issues with the car's "physics."

"I've changed my mindset," he told the media including Sportskeeda. I don't think that additional pressure on all of us makes it better."

"I think we have a problem with the physics. It is not by lack of trying or by the mindset or the motivation or energies. All of that is there, and I can see the buzz in the organisation."

Wolff feels that Mercedes can "turn" things around with a positive mindset. According to him, such 'disappointing' results can hinder performance.

"As racers, when we have such [disappointing] results, you're feeling down, but we're trying to change that with the right motivation for the week that comes. That's why we are believing that we can turn this around. We believe that our organisation can dig ourselves out. I'm 100% sure we can."

The Austrian team principal earlier revealed that there are "fundamental" issues with the W15 that the team is trying to work on.

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Toto Wolff reveals 'fundamental' issues with Mercedes' 2024 F1 challenger

Lewis Hamilton finished the Saudi Arabian GP in P9 behind the McLaren of Lando Norris. He constantly complained on the radio about the pace the latter's car had in the fast sectors of the track. George Russell finished the race in P6, behind the other McLaren.

This performance saw them drop a place in the championship and they now stand in fourth. Toto Wolff, while speaking to the media including Sportskeeda revealed that the team is failing to understand an aspect of the car.

"There is something which we don't understand," Wolff said. "We are quick everywhere else pretty much."

He stated that the issue does not lie within the car's setup that is hampering their performance.

"We know that we have a smaller rear wing, we're compensating what we're losing through the corners. But it's just at high speed where we're losing all the lap time."

"I think that's a biggie. There's only so much you can tune here. Our simulations point us in a direction and this is the kind of set-up range that we then choose, where you put the right rear wing on," Wolff added.

In 2023, Mercedes' concept was modified mid-season after the team introduced a new sidepod in Monaco. Although they finished the season in second place, their performance wasn't very impressive relative to their competitors.

Furthermore, when introducing the W15, technical director James Allison mentioned that the car was working around the weaknesses of the earlier car. Despite this, Wolff revealed that the car still has fundamental issues.

"I think you'll gain a few tenths or not if you get the set-up right or wrong, but there's not a massive corridor of performance. It's more a fundamental thing, that we believe that the speed should be there. We measure the downforce but we don't find it in lap time."

Mercedes has not introduced an upgrade so far this season. Going forward, some progress might be expected in the garage.