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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff feels the decision to persist with the no-sidepod concept for the 2023 F1 season was one of the biggest mistakes he made in the last few years.
He does, however, defend it by referring to the team winning the 2022 F1 Brazilian GP as the pointer that gave belief to the team in the concept.
Mercedes has dominated the sport if we take a look at the last decade. The German team has won 8 of the last 10 championships and went undefeated during the turbo hybrid era.
Having said that, the team first faced a challenge in 2021 from Red Bull. The title battle went down to the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
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With Michael Masi's questionable decision-making, the title went to Max Verstappen in 2021, although Mercedes did clinch the Constructors' title. 2021 was, however, the point where the fortunes flipped for the German team. The regulations changed and we had the ground effect cars.
Mercedes went ahead with the no-sidepod concept, something no other team tried, and it backfired. The German team struggled throughout the season, only to strike form near the end.
The form at the end of the season, however, worked against the team as Wolff revealed that the success in Brazil, where the team won the rac,e was a false positive alarm.
Terming the persistence to continue with the zero-sidepod concept into 2023 as the biggest mistake of the last few seasons, the Austrian tried to justify it. In a conversation with Bild, he said:
"The W13 was my biggest mistake in recent years. We took the wrong approach to building the car for the 2022 season, it wasn't the correct path. Confirming this concept in 2023 was the second big mistake, but I defend this decision, given that we had won in Brazil. Every team would have considered that weekend as the starting point for the new season. More than half of the team was convinced that the situation was improving."
Mercedes boss admits to overstepping the mark in criticizing the team
Looking back at the season, Toto Wolff did admit that there were moments where he probably went too far while criticizing the team. He shared how, whenever he felt this happened, he would make it a point to reach out to the team at the factory on the next Monday to clear things out.
"Criticizing the team in front of the media is part of a balancing act that I haven't always been able to master perfectly. Many employees are motivated when they see an ambitious boss, but sometimes I cross the line. I have to take chamomile tea before interviews to calm down. If I have been too harsh, on Monday, I go back to the factory and apologize. This is also part of good leadership."
The Mercedes boss is having arguably the worst period of his career with the two seasons being relatively poor. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for him if this continues in 2024.
