The 2022 Formula 1 season represented an opportunity never seen before for the Mercedes team, as the Germans could win their ninth consecutive constructors’ title, thus increasing their streak.
However, since the beginning of the year a W13 has been very uncompetitive in qualifying and race conditions, only achieving two podium finishes that came due to the Red Bull’s unlucky reliability in Bahrain and Australia.
During the weekend of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, stated that he was ruled out of the fight to win the title at the end of the course, statements that clash with what the head of Mercedes, Toto Wolff .
The Brackley team boss has also said things that differ from what he himself explained before landing at Imola. The Austrian seems to have changed his mind when it comes to the battle for the world championship, and believes that by getting the development of his car right, they can be among the best.
In the open media session after the race on the Italian track, it was put on the table if he had already ruled out winning, to which he replied: “No, I don’t want to say goodbye to this thought, because what I like about this sport is that not everything follows mathematics.
“The races can be totally different, you see how quickly you go from being first or second on the track to being eliminated in the next race,” said the Mercedes boss.
“With the Ferraris, in this sense, the gap that is opening up is difficult to recover, but if we manage to put this car in the right direction on the track, then we will be among the first cars, however difficult it may seem,” he continued.
The eight-time world champion team only managed to finish fourth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix thanks to George Russell’s performance, but they were stuck in 14th place with Lewis Hamilton, who became 13th due to the penalty to Stephen Ocon.
After the first four races of the year, the Germans are, despite all the problems, third in the constructors’ championship, with 77 points , 47 units behind the leaders, while in the drivers’ standings they are fourth with Russell and seventh with Hamilton.
