The German manufacturer had a difficult start to the weekend at the Austrian GP, with accidents in qualifying for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and damage in the sprint race also hurting both cars.
However, in the spirit of their latest upgrade package at the British Grand Prix, they remain optimistic about what they can achieve later in the campaign.
Hamilton said over the weekend at the Red Bull Ring that he was convinced the team was on the right track to be able to win a race this season, and Toto Wolff has acknowledged he sees that as a realistic target.
“I think at Silverstone, if you look at our metrics, we had the fastest car,” said Wolff, when asked by Motorsport.com if he agreed with his driver’s comments.
“We were also quite competitive in Barcelona. Here [in Austria], we were actually more competitive in qualifying than in the race. It was just tricky.”
“But the rear wing on George’s car is too big, so we have too much load. They also both had ground damage, George after lap three. So we could see a bit of a drop [in his times].”
“The truth is that I think ‘yes’ is the answer. I think we are putting things in order. Slowly but surely. That would be the goal,” Wolff said.
Wolff explained that both Mercedes suffered broken floor braces on their cars in the sprint race, in addition to Hamilton sustaining damage to the edge of the floor following the first corner collision with Pierre Gasly.
Also, other issues, such as Hamilton ‘s steering, were fixed in time for the race.
“I think we can fix the consequences of the incident [in qualifying], and there was also a problem with the brakes, because something got stuck after the incident with Gasly,” he said.
“These things can be changed. I wish we didn’t have parc fermé rules and we could work on the car to make it more competitive, but it is what it is.”
Asked if he was surprised that Hamilton was able to continue after the Gasly incident, Wolff said: “Yeah, it’s just been unfortunate. We’ve seen George have the same kind of touch with Gasly at Silverstone and now it’s been with Lewis.
“I’m happy at least that he was able to continue because it could have been the end of his career at the first corner, which would have been a shame. But now we are 4th and 8th. Let’s see what he can do in the race.”
