Wolff: Mercedes in ‘sixth gear’ to bring upgrades to 2024 F1 car

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has claimed both factories are operating in “sixth gear” as the team bids to bring updates to its 2024 Formula 1 car to overcome its woes.

The German marque introduced a revised floor to its W15 challenger last weekend in Miami, which Wolff had hoped would deliver a noticeable step in performance.

However, Mercedes endured a pointless Sprint prior to Lewis Hamilton finishing sixth and George Russell eighth in the grand prix, as engine customer McLaren won.

But Wolff is convinced that Mercedes has a reasonable grasp on its various problems and the process to construct new parts to solve those issues is occurring now.

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“I think we understand much more what is needed to get the car in a better place because it’s so clear now what it does and why we struggle and where we struggle,” he said.

“In Formula 1 you can accelerate development and produce the beats and we’re flat out. The design office is all in. The production operations are flat out.

“The rest has been doing a good job. All of the factories are really sixth gear in order to bring stuff to the car that we believe can be very helpful.”

Wolff has warned that there are no short-term fixes as Mercedes can’t accelerate the design process to the point where it risks upgrades not delivering as anticipated.

Asked to hone in on a more precise timeline for when those touted updates are scheduled to arrive, Wolff answered: “I think we know what we do.

“In terms of what they’re bringing to the car, you can’t really rush it because you’ve got to get to the point where you say now it’s good to be released into production.

“And once that part comes, or once it’s come, they need to be sorted. So this is a matter of many weeks.”

Russell has assessed that Mercedes has “overcompensated” for the flaws with the W15’s predecessor and gone too far in the other direction with its latest concept.

Wolff has appeared to concur with that viewpoint, citing that Mercedes has eradicated the high-speed deficit it held last term at the cost of slow-speed performance.

“I think the car’s not bouncing anymore, which is good. It was really bad the last few years,” he explained.

“The car is very strong at high speed. The ride is better, although not on the level of the other one. The car just doesn’t drive at low speed.

“And you don’t want to have a car that if you don’t put it in low speed or high speed, you meet the two of them.

“And that’s why it points us in some of the right directions. It’s been a painful, painful learning curve and it’s still not satisfactory, but the situation is more encouraging now.”