"It will take time to make the gains we want" - Mercedes' Toto Wolff says team needs to be 'realistic' for the 2022 F1 season

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff conceded that it will take time for the team to get back on a level playing field against the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull. Speaking about the prospects of returning to the front soon, Wolff said that the team needed to be pragmatic, and understand that it will take time.

Acknowledging the amount of work that was done by the team during the Easter period, the Austrian said:

“There’s been a lot of hard work over the Easter weekend in the factory to bring improvements to the car and get it ready to head to the next race, and that shows the team’s dedication to turning the situation around. Of course, we must be realistic, it will take time to make the gains we want, but we’re learning as much as we can from each race and finding avenues to push us forward.”

Comparing the Silver Arrows' present situation to the frontrunners, Wolff said:

“We know we haven’t got the pace of the Ferrari and Red Bull right now. But we’re working hard to reduce their advantage, and it’s been brilliant to see everyone across the factories pulling together to achieve this.”

Toto Wolff's team currently finds itself second in the constructors' standings, owing more to the reliability issues faced by Red Bull than the team's own performance levels.

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Will Mercedes be able to fight for the title this season?

Imola will mark the end of the 1/6th season. During this time, Mercedes has been more or less around a second slower than Red Bull and Ferrari. To make things worse, the team has opted not to bring any updates to the car at Imola.

The lack of performance has led to an obvious increase in the deficit to the top in terms of points. The more it happens, the more the team will suffer while recuperating.

Concerns exist that the Silver Arrows' radical no-sidepod design is probably not the best solution it could have opted for. Consequently, the team is finding it difficult to understand the car and how it needs to be developed.

Mercedes' situation has been flattered by the reliability issues faced by Red Bull, essentially gifting the former two podiums in the first three races. It will be interesting to see if and when the Brackley-based outfit starts making improvements to its 2022 F1 challenger.