Mercedes is enjoying a bit of a resurgence at the moment. Coming off their first double-podium result at the Spanish Grand Prix, and a surprising — to them — podium for Lewis Hamilton at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team heads to Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix with some wind at their backs.
Can Mercedes catch Red Bull at the Austrian Grand Prix?
Look at this photo of Toto Wolff. Just look at it. It’s perfect.
Photo by Michael Potts/BSR Agency/Getty Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
“There were plenty of positives to take from the last race in Canada. Although we didn’t get both cars to the chequered flag, a podium was a solid result and we saw encouraging signs from our updated package,” said Team Principal Toto Wolff in the team’s media preview.
While the W14 has struggled in low-speed corners this year — Hamilton conceded to Max Verstappen following the Canadian Grand Prix that their car “sucks” in those corners — Red Bull Ring’s faster corners could make for a much better environment for the W14.
“I think where we’ve seen the car struggling is more the low-speed corners. So if we start looking at circuits that’ve got more medium and high-speed content, I think we’ll do better there,” said Mike Elliott, the team’s Chief Technical Officer, in their post-race video debrief. “So Silverstone would be a good example of that. Austria shouldn’t be too bad for us either, so let’s hope we go well in both of those.”
Wolff outlined something similar in the team’s preview.
“It’s a short lap in Spielberg and looks straightforward on paper; several long straights broken up by a range of slow, medium-speed and fast corners,” added the Mercedes boss. “But it’s a challenging one to put together and get right.”
Mercedes got it fairly right a season ago, despite facing some challenges thanks to some qualifying troubles. Like this season, the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix was a sprint event, but under the old format where the sprint race determined the starting grid for the Grand Prix itself.
Hamilton crashed during Q3 and started the sprint race in P9, and could only manage to pick up one spot on the grid to finish the sprint race in eighth place. For his part George Russell started fourth on the grid, despite also seeing Q3 end as he slid off the track, but he managed to come across the line in P4 for the sprint race.
In the Grand Prix itself, an early-race incident between Russell and Sergio Pérez resulted in the Red Bull driver retiring, and Russell being given a five-second penalty for causing the contact. Still, Russell found a way to climb through the field, coming back from being in P19 to finish fourth.
Hamilton, despite starting eighth, climbed up to P3 by the end, giving Mercedes a P3 and a P4 for their efforts.
“It’s been a very tough weekend in the garage but very satisfying to come away with third and fourth positions,” said Andrew Shovlin, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director, after the 2022 Austrian GP.
Given how the team has fared in recent weeks, it almost seems like a similar finish this weekend would be viewed as a disappointment. And given the configuration of the Red Bull Ring, the team believes even better results are possible.
“We will aim to build on the momentum we have generated over the past two races and continue our positive trajectory with the car,” added Wolff. “It’s a venue where the W14 should perform better than in Canada, but we won’t take anything for granted. As always, we will be working hard to maximise our performance and deliver strong results.”
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