Mercedes boss Toto Wolff pinpoints the genesis of McLaren's F1 dominance

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has pinpointed the 2023 F1 Austrian GP as the epicenter of McLaren's dominance, as that was the race where the team's first upgrade turned its fortunes around. The Woking-based squad has reached a point where it is dominating the sport right now, but that wasn't always the case.

So much so that just two years back in 2023, the team was getting lapped by Red Bull in races at the start of the season. The turnaround began with the team's first upgrade in Austria, which saw the team jump to being the third fastest on the grid. Things continued to get better for the squad by the end of that season as the car began to score more podiums.

In 2024, once again, McLaren started the season on the back foot, and it was not until Miami, where it introduced the major upgrade, that the fortunes of the team started to change. This became a feature of the team's year as it soon usurped the competition to become the best on the grid.

This season, the team has built a car that appears to have an inherent advantage when it comes to preserving its rear tires. McLaren doesn't overheat its tires, unlike every other team on the grid, and hence has immaculate race pace. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was questioned about how the team is able to achieve this, to which the Austrian said that it just comes down to the extensive focus put on that particular aspect, which is now bearing fruit.

Talking about how it all first began in Austria in 2023, Wolff told Motorsport Week:

“I don’t know, but I think if you put a lot of emphasis on how you develop your car mechanically, then you will have an advantage. It started two years ago in Austria. They brought an update that was much better than they expected and part of the development since then was also nurturing the tyres in the right way.”

He added that Mercedes just needed to do a better job at this, and this is something that the team is working on.

“We just need to be better, we just need to understand. We need to find out where we need to focus our attention in terms of development. What are the main performance contributors? And we are on it, completely on it. So it’s not like we’re looking at it like a Bambi in front of the headlights. We are on it, we are in there, we’re trying to find out, we’re experimenting. And we’re going to definitely be able to challenge,” he added.

Wolff further shared insights on the weaknesses of the W16 compared to the MCL39.

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Mercedes boss on his car's weakness compared to McLaren

Compared to McLaren, Mercedes has often encountered issues getting the best out of their car in hotter conditions. When the conditions are colder, as they were in races like Spa, Silverstone, and Las Vegas last season, the car can dominate. When it is hotter, it becomes harder to get the same level of performance.

This season, Mercedes appears to have built a car that is more consistent, but in races in Saudi Arabia and Miami, the issue was still noticeable. Talking about the car's concerns, Wolff mentioned:

“I think we were much [better] in these hot races at the beginning of the year than we were last year, much better. Then you come to Silverstone; so we were really cold in the ice, Baltic conditions in Silverstone."

He added:

“We were good in Spa, we were good in Las Vegas, so you can definitely still see a kind of similar pattern. Now I think we’ve solved a lot of balance issues from last year; front and rear is in a much better spot. But when it’s hot and the balance is not where it needs to be ideally, then McLaren is just better.”

Mercedes has generally been a more all-around car this season, although it is safe to say that the performance still needs to level up to a certain extent if it has to match McLaren.