"They said the same last year": Fans not buying Mercedes boss's claims that the team has already started working on next year's car

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recently mentioned that the team has started focusing on the new car, which will compete in the 2024 F1 season.

During and after the summer break, almost all teams gradually shift their focus from the current season to the next, particularly those who are planning to have a major resurgence in the future.

According to racer.com, Toto Wolff stated that despite some upgrade packages coming for this year's W14 car, Mercedes will focus on 2024 and find sweet spots for their next car. He said:

“The sails are set for 2024 now. We still have some updates to come with W14, but I find focus switching to next year good because there is so much we can optimize on the current car without looking too much into upgrades."

“Let’s see how we can get it into more of a sweet spot while gaining lots of understanding for next year. The more learnings we can find, the better placed we will be for 2024 and beyond.”

Tweet about Toto Wolff's comments about focusing on 2024 F1 season (Image via Sportskeeda)

Soon after Toto Wolff's comments surfaced on social media platforms, several F1 fans reacted to this recent development.

Many pointed out that these kinds of statements were made last year as well when the team started preparing for 2023 quite early after experiencing a horrendous season in 2022. Unfortunately, Mercedes was still unable to create a strong car.

Though there were some who supported the statement, most were slightly skeptical about whether the team would be able to pull themselves together and fight with Red Bull for the world championship.

Here are a few reactions to Wolff's comments:

Tweets reacting to Toto Wolff's comments (Image via Sportskeeda)

Tweets reacting to Toto Wolff's comments (Image via Sportskeeda)

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Toto Wolff looking forward to the summer break as Mercedes struggles with a returning issue

Mercedes encountered an old aerodynamic issue during the 2023 F1 Belgian GP. The Silver Arrows struggled with a bit of porpoising around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, leaving team principal Toto Wolff quite frustrated.

While speaking to Sky Sports, he stated how he is looking forward to the summer break and resolving the issue with no pressure for another race weekend. Toto Wolff said:

"I’m frustrated because the car today [at the Belgian GP] didn’t do what we wanted. There was a lot of bouncing, so we need the summer break to fix this. I think about this car every day, but it’s better to think about it in Sardinia at the beach instead of the office, so I don’t mind the summer break."

Mercedes are currently second in the constructors' championship with 247 points, miles behind the reigning world champions Red Bull.