"We’re set for an intense second half"- Mercedes 'getting closer' to Red Bull and Ferrari in 2022 F1 season, claims Toto Wolff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes his Silver Arrows are getting closer to their first win in 2022 and need to keep their momentum intact.

After dominating the sport for the better part of a decade, Mercedes have struggled to hit the same height under the new regulations that were brought in at the start of the year.

The Silver Arrows have gone through a period of trial and error this season to sort out their issues with porpoising and are yet to unlock the true potential of the W13. Despite these shortcomings, their reliability and the consistency of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have helped them keep up with Ferrari in the World Constructors' Championship standings.

As we approach the 2022 F1 Belgian GP after the summer break, Toto Wolff feels they can get even better in the final nine races of the season. In an interview with F1.com, the Austrian said:

“While we’re still not quite in the fight for victories, we’re getting closer, so we need to keep the momentum going and the pressure on. We’re set for an intense second half of the season, with nine more opportunities to find improvements, make progress and hopefully challenge Red Bull and Ferrari for wins.”

The 50-year-old also reiterated the importance of having a summer break to decompress before returning recharged for the remainder of the campaign. Wolff went on to add:

“The shutdown is an important time for the team to take some time off, recharge, and spend time with their families, whose support throughout the year is invaluable. There are few opportunities to do so during the season and the development race is relentless, so the break has been well deserved for everyone in the team. We’re excited to be back there [at Spa-Francorchamps], hopefully we can put on an awesome show this year for all the fans in Belgium, and we’ll also be celebrating 55 years of Mercedes-AMG too, with some fun activities.”

Mercedes are expected to run a special edition livery to celebrate 55 years of their partnership with AMG. The livery will supposedly pay homage to the Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, famously known as the Rote Sau or 'Red Pig' in German, which won the 1971 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

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Lewis Hamilton feels Mercedes 'can't forever rely on reliability' to win races in 2022 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton stressed Mercedes' need to find more performance if they want to catch Red Bull and Ferrari in the final nine races of 2022.

Engineers at Brackley and Brixworth thus far have not been able to deliver the level of performance that Red Bull and Ferrari have had this season. Mercedes, however, are the most reliable team on the grid with zero DNFs due to mechanical failures in the 13 races so far this season.

This has allowed both Hamilton and his teammate George Russell to steadily pick up points and podiums whenever Ferrari and Red Bull have fallen off.

The seven-time world champion feels Mercedes must bring pace and performance to the already reliable package. In an interview with former teammate Heikki Kovalainen on Viaplay, the Briton compared his situation to 2009, when McLaren were left scratching their heads with the MP4-24. He said:

“It’s been a really challenging year. I would say similar to the year we had in 2009, with the car that, [when] we arrived in the factory in February or January 2009, they said the car [was] looking good. Then we got to the first test, and we were like, ‘Whoa, it’s a long way away from where we need to be’. And as a team, we’ve gone through a similar process in terms of trying to strip away some things, rebuild, regroup, manoeuvre this car into a better place.”

Hamilton went on to add:

“We’ve had some really nice consistency in these last few races, which has been great. We’re still lacking performance, which is a difficult thing because I think there’s potential in this car, but we’ve had to depower it to stop it from bouncing. We’ve had really good reliability, but we can’t forever rely on reliability being the thing that keeps us on the podium, so we really need performance.’’

Mercedes have 11 podium finishes this season, the same as Ferrari, but are still searching for their first win of the season. The Silver Arrows are currently P3 in the World Constructors' Championship standings with 304 points after 13 rounds of racing.