Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted that he wasn’t expecting the team to be in a position to win Formula 1’s British Grand Prix despite “hints” in the right direction.
The German squad’s upturn in competitiveness was cemented at Silverstone as Lewis Hamilton emerged triumphant in a race for the first time since December 2021.
Hamilton’s record ninth success on home soul added to George Russell’s win in Austria last weekend to grant Mercedes successive victories in the ground effect era.
But with Russell having capitalised on a clash ahead to prevail, Wolff revelled in Hamilton’s latest win arriving on pure speed in a battle against McLaren and Red Bull.
Wolff disclosed that Mercedes’ Red Bull Ring outing bolstered his hopes concerning the W15’s renewed potential, but not to the point he was expectant this weekend.
Asked about Russell’s assessment that Mercedes is now back in contention, Wolff agreed: “Yeah, it does feel, feel that way, because last weekend we weren’t far off.
“When you look at the gap that we had before the crash, it was maybe two-tenths a lap, a bit more.
“And that is the closest we’ve been for a long time, on a track that we didn’t like so much in the past. And that kind of gave us hints that it could be getting much better.
“Honestly, we didn’t think it would be Silverstone, because there’s barely anything, just more stuff that we put on the car.
“We were more expecting Budapest to spark, but it was, I agree with George, it was, we justified that what we do is right at the moment.”
Wolff has proclaimed that Mercedes’ return to being a genuine contender at the sharp end was not a linear road as he hailed Hamilton’s dream return to the top step.
“I think that it was so difficult over the last, over the last two years that we couldn’t really find performance,” he highlighted.
“We couldn’t give the drivers a car that enabled them to go for the victories.
“And to make him [Lewis] win again, the British Grand Prix, in his last race for Mercedes here, is almost like a, like a little fairytale. We couldn’t have scripted it better.”
However, Wolff has denied that he harbours regrets that Mercedes has taken this long to make a breakthrough with the current rules as he targets more wins in 2024.
“In my life, I have no regrets, because you cannot have regrets, we are adults, we take decisions, we go for it,” he explained. “That’s the most important.
“So we’ve got to finish this season on a high, provide them with a car that enables them to win, the team to score on various points in the Constructors’ Championship, and that is what it is.”
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