"Mercedes' Formula One Rivals: Profitability Concerns"
'If I were Toto Wolff I wouldn't sleep well' Mercedes once again failed to keep pace with favorite Red Bull in the 2023 Formula 1 season, with Max Verstappen more than 100 points ahead in qualifying.
According to a former Formula 1 driver, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is likely up at night in the middle of his team battles. After a period of dominance between 2013 and 2021, during which they won seven drivers' titles and eight consecutive constructors' titles, the Silver Arrows made a disastrous start to a new era of Formula 1.
The duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have only taken one Grand Prix win in 2022 and neither have reached the checkered flag after 12 races in 2023.
Hamilton is currently fourth overall, 166 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen.The Silver Arrows are currently in second place in the Constructors' Championship, 256 points behind the Red Bull duo Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.
That sparked a major debate over whether fans would be barred from a competitive season, with Hamilton himself publicly calling for restrictions to bridge the gap between Red Bull and the rest. However, those comments were met with irony in many areas of F1, considering the Brit himself benefited from the period of dominance after initially moving to Mercedes.
The recent resurgence of Lando Norris has created even more problems for Wolff's team, suggesting McLaren are now threatening to test them too. And Hans-Joachim Stuck, who drove in Formula 1 from 1974 to 1979, thinks this is bad news for the Silver Arrows.
"There are teams like McLaren who, of course also because of the talent of their two drivers, have recognized where they have to go and are now very close to this goal," he told Eurosport. "Big compliments for that! If I were Toto Wolff, I wouldn't sleep well now."
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And Stuck, 72, doesn't think new regulations should be put in place to close the gap between Red Bull and the rest. "Ultimately, however, the conditions are the same everywhere and everyone has to make the best of it." Dispute.
"At the moment only Red Bull is doing that. Ferrari has a good speed, but all sorts of nonsense is happening elsewhere and Mercedes is simply no longer at the level of Red Bull."There is no doubt about that.”
Wolff and Co. has introduced new updates for its W14 vehicles, but so far the improvements have not had the desired effect. In fact, after the Spa-Francorchamps race, where Hamilton and Russell finished fourth and sixth, the Austrian boss had to deal with the issue of cars 'bouncing' on the track.