The Mercedes team principal was shocked by the recovery of the Maranello team after the last two seasons: “With that power unit he can dream big. I felt that the new rules would change the hierarchies … “
Federico Mariani
Ferrari arrives at Imola, the first European round of the 2022 F1 World Championship, with the look of the dominating team. Two victories in three races, first in the constructors ‘championship and on the run with Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ one. Toto Wolff is well acquainted with this feeling of invincibility, which he has experienced with Mercedes for eight years. The team principal of the German formation admitted in an interview with the Spanish newspaper AS to have been impressed by the sudden growth of the Maranello team.
surprise
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Wolff, in fact, did not expect such a clear reversal of the values on the field in the space of a few months. The new F1-75, on the other hand, is undermining the certainties of the competition: “I can only congratulate Ferrari. We are seeing a big step forward compared to last season. Before, they were about 14 horsepower behind. Now, on the other hand, they are the ones ahead of the same power ”. An impressive technical recovery in the eyes of Toto: “I’ve never seen such consistent progress in such a short time. And with this power unit they have shown that they can dream big “.
overturning
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If Ferrari flies, Mercedes struggles. The Stuttgart house has never been in the fight for GP victories, saving the budget with the podiums of Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and George Russell in Australia. Wolff explains to RacingNews365.com: “In the past I had the feeling that the new rules could have altered the hierarchy and that is how it went. But I have already experienced such a situation and I am humble enough to face it ”. In short, do not panic among the Silver Arrows.
doubts in stuttgart
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However, a quick recovery from Mercedes itself will be needed: “There are many aspects that we know we can improve, but there are also other details of the car that we still don’t understand. Our studies and simulations show that the car has the potential to go a second faster than on the track. The problem is the rebound of the car ”. So what could be the solution? Wolff admits: “It’s hard to think of going back many months to the Barcelona configuration. At the moment there is only one thing to say: we are not fast enough to win ”.
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