Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has contended the team can’t become a “Bambi in headlights” in the hunt to understand McLaren’s current tyre advantage in Formula 1.
George Russell crossed the line more than 30 seconds behind the McLaren pairing in last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix as the reigning champions cruised to a 1-2.
The Briton’s team-mate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, took his maiden pole position in the Sprint, but Lando Norris won as McLaren’s race pace sent a warning to the rest.
That message was reinforced early on, as Piastri and Norris dispatched pole-sitter Max Verstappen and surged clear to deliver a commanding victory for McLaren.
Following the race, Wolff was quizzed on whether he harboured worries that the Woking-based squad’s MCL39 challenger wasn’t compliant with the technical rules.
But in response, the German insisted that it was up to the opposition to replicate the gains that McLaren has been able to discover to enjoy such a seismic margin.
“I don’t know, but I think if you put a lot of emphasis on how you develop your car mechanically, then you will have an advantage,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“It started two years ago in Austria. They brought an update that was much better than they expected and part of the development since then was also nurturing the tyres in the right way.
“We just need to be better, we just need to understand.
“We need to find out where we need to focus our attention in terms of development.
“What are the main performance contributors? And we are on it, completely on it.
“So it’s not like we’re looking at it like a Bambi in front of the headlights.
“We are on it, we are in there, we’re trying to find out, we’re experimenting. And we’re going to definitely be able to challenge.”
Mercedes has made progress, but McLaren is ‘just better’
One of the key factors of Mercedes’ misfortunes in 2024 was the difference between the team’s competitiveness based on the temperature.
The Silver Arrows excelled in Silverstone, Spa and Las Vegas last season, but struggled in the heat of places such as Budapest, Miami and Monza.
Despite an encouraging start to the season and evident progress in hotter climates, Wolff conceded the team still isn’t operating at McLaren’s level.
“I think we were much [better] in these hot races at the beginning of the year than we were last year, much better,” he added.
“Then you come to Silverstone; so we were really cold in the ice, Baltic conditions in Silverstone.
“We were good in Spa, we were good in Las Vegas, so you can definitely still see a kind of similar pattern.
“Now I think we’ve solved a lot of balance issues from last year; front and rear is in a much better spot.
“But when it’s hot and the balance is not where it needs to be ideally, then McLaren is just better.”
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