"Looking at the odds, very difficult": Mercedes boss concedes chances of catching Red Bull are slim

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the chances of his team catching Red Bull in 2024 are not that bright. The last two seasons have been extremely bad for the German team. Mercedes dominated the sport for eight years straight but ever since the regulations have changed, things have not looked good for the team.

Mercedes could only win a single race in 2022, and it proved to be the false dawn as the team continued to persist with the zero sidepod concept in 2023. The decision to persist with that concept proved disastrous as the car was just not up to the mark and Mercedes would have its first winless season since 2011.

Looking ahead to the 2023 F1 season, Wolff admitted that the size of the task in front of the team was just too big. Having said that, he looked at rivals McLaren and Aston Martin as inspirations over how they made massive strides during the season.

“Looking at the odds, very difficult. Looking at the performances of other teams, and how Aston Martin has done over the winter [from 2022 into 2023], McLaren recovered a second with an upgrade they expected to come in at 0.25 seconds…," Wolff was quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

"There is a sweet spot that you need to find and that unlocks more potential. I think the biggest contributor is that the drivers start to have a car that they can trust, which they can't at the moment [with the outgoing Mercedes W14],” he added.

"I'm not going to hold my breath": Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes prospects for the 2024

Lewis Hamilton also made his intentions clear about the upcoming 2024 season. He remains optimistic as he feels that Mercedes finally has a direction that it could work with. However, the Brit was quick to add that to reach where the team wants to be, a lot of work still needed to be done.

“I do believe we have a North Star now, which I don't think we've had for two years. But still getting there is not a straight line… I think we understand the car so much better. We have developed great tools in the background. So naturally, I'm hopeful [for 2024], but I'm not going to hold my breath,” he was quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

The German team will be hoping to make sizeable gains in the coming season after two rather mediocre years.