Toto Wolff: Mercedes working towards unleashing the potential that has always been in the car

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently shared how his team is sticking with most of their previous concepts from the 2022 F1 season.

Throughout last season and the winter break, the team gradually discovered the issues and shortcomings with the car and tried to fix them. Hence, they are not going to make drastic changes to the car in the 2023 F1 season, but rather, they will keep using most of the concepts from last year.

Wolff explained to RaceFans how the team will maximize the potential of the 2022 Mercedes cars in the coming season, saying:

“I think we have understood how we fell back and where the shortcomings are, where we have gaps in understanding or had gaps in understanding, and we’re working hard on putting a car on the ground that has addressed all of that. But we will only see when starting testing whether we have unlocked the potential that we believe has always been in the car.”

The Mercedes team principal is determined to get back at Red Bull and Ferrari in the 2023 F1 season, though he is keeping his hopes realistic. Toto Wolff is well aware of how strong the other two front-running teams will be, saying:

"We have no doubt, when you’re starting behind by half a second, that it’s going to be difficult to catch up to such great organisations like Red Bull or Ferrari. Having said that, we are super-determined in doing just that, but we need to set our expectations that are realistic level. If we perform in the way that we hope so then we’d like to be part in the racing at the very front. I think that would be a starting point."

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Christian Horner surprised at Mercedes' rate of development in the 2022 F1 season

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was surprised to see Mercedes' development pace throughout the 2022 F1 season. Speaking to GPFans, he mentioned Mercedes' rate of development and predicted that the team would hit hard in the 2023 F1 season after gaining a lot of experience last year. He said:

"Under the budget cap, it has been surprising just the amount of development... But it has certainly been surprising the rate they have developed, particularly in the second half of the year."

Horner further added:

"I would expect them to be very strong. They are not going to have the experience of this year. Look, they are a very capable team with very capable drivers and we are set for another really competitive season of Formula 1 in 2023."

Despite all the teams being on a tight budget due to the cost cap, the Silver Arrows successfully tackled porpoising issues and clawed their way back to podium finishes at the end of the season.