Toto Wolff talks ‘encouraging’ signs ahead of F1 Bahrain Grand Prix

Mercedes had one goal heading into the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Give drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell a consistent racecar for the season.

Ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff made it clear: Based on the results from pre-season testing last week in Bahrain, the team has achieved that goal.

Now the team will take the W15, their challenger for the 2024 season, to the track for real. That will give Mercedes, as well as the rest of the grid, to see if their work truly has delivered on their goals.

“Each of the last two seasons, we’ve headed to the first race of the year on the back foot. There was inherent goodness in the W13 and W14, but it often proved too difficult to unlock. They were inconsistent machines,” said Wolff in the team’s media preview of the Bahrain Grand Prix. “Our main aim going into 2024 therefore was clear: create a consistent and stable platform. A car that would react as we expected. One that the drivers could consistently push. And one that we can develop throughout the year, in the knowledge that we are bringing real-world performance to the track.”

When pre-season testing came to a close, both Russell and Hamilton sang the W15’s praises. “We’re aware that there’s a lot more lap time to find. We knew that would be the case ahead of the test, and Red Bull are looking very strong once again. Nevertheless, I’m confident that we’re in a much better place than we were 12 months ago,” said Russell following testing. “The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us into this position and with a car that is a step in the right direction. We now need to focus on firstly getting the most out of the package we have and secondly, adding more downforce and trying to close that gap.”

“We’ve clearly made an improvement with this year’s car and it’s much nicer to drive,” added Hamilton following the second day of testing. “We’ve still got progress to make of course. But this is a good foundation for us to build on.”

For the Mercedes boss, the results during pre-season testing indicate that the team is moving in the right direction with the W15, and has a “good foundation” to being the season. “Over these first two races, we will get a much better understanding of the job we have done. After pre-season testing though, we can draw some initial conclusions. The drivers are much happier with the overall balance,” added Wolff in the team’s preview. “The basic platform is working as we expected. The correlation to our simulations looks to be accurate. This is all encouraging. It’s a good foundation that we can build on.”

Wolff concedes that there is a big gap between Red Bull and Mercedes. Still, the Team Principal — as well as the rest of the team — is focused on closing that gap.

“Our focus at the test was on learning about the car we have. Our attention can now turn to tuning performance for the Bahrain race weekend. Red Bull, as is to be expected, look to be at the head of the field,” said Wolff. “The chasing pack looks tight. We will soon get an idea of where we stack up in that. And the task that is ahead of us to close the gap to the front.”

Mercedes will get their first crack at closing that gap in Thursday’s dual practice sessions.