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Landing consecutive podiums in the 2023 F1 Spanish and Canadian Grand Prix, Mercedes are finally hopeful about bringing the fight to the indomitable Red Bull.
The Silver Arrows' boss Toto Wolff hopes his drivers' predictions are accurate, especially after they displayed competitive performance in qualifying in Canada.
Toto Wolff says Mercedes can fight Red Bull after the summer break:
"If we improve with the latest updates [for Silvertone], after the break, we will be able to fight with Red Bull."
In an interview with Motorsport, Wolff said:
“I think we can also be there, we can be satisfied so far."
Wolff also agreed that the Montreal circuit isn't their strongest one and weather conditions like rains make matters worse. However, with Hamilton securing a podium in the Canadian GP, the team boss thinks that finally, the car is coming together for Mercedes with the upgrades to W14.
Mercedes is on the right track to bring the fight to Red Bull, according to Toto Wolff
Hamilton might have been 14 seconds behind Verstappen in P3, but the time difference is a clear sign for the Mercedes team boss that the team is stepping in the right direction.
However, Wolff agrees that Max's driving has created a margin that is quite a gap to catch up to. The team has a lot of groundwork to do to close the gap with Red Bull. Though the margin in this race was two-tenths a lap, the team is still too far.
With the Austrian and Silverstone GP right around the corner, Wolff explains the upgrades being made to the car for the races and said:
"We're bringing a larger one to Silverstone, then we should have another one before shutdown. It's just that the learnings have accelerated a lot since we changed some of them conception architecture, and there should be decent steps coming in the next four races."
In addition to the W14's inherent drag, the car still suffers a premium for its decision to use rear wings that are larger than the competitors, as in Canada. This is necessary to confidently bring developments from the factory to the track. Mercedes might be able to compete with Red Bull the following season because of this and the team's improved comprehension of its new idea.
When Lewis Hamilton was asked about the pace of the car, he admitted that the pace was a bit of a challenge and that low-speed corners are the car's weakness in particular. They have a lot of work to do to get more performance and efficiency out of the car, and Hamilton is optimistic about gradually closing the gaps with their competitors.
