Toto Wolff: “United States GP is our best race despite disqualification” – F1journaal.be

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the United States GP will be his team’s best race in 2023, despite Lewis Hamilton’s exclusion from the results.

Lewis Hamilton saw his second place finish in Austin after the underbody of his Mercedes was badly worn. As a result, Brackley’s formation had to settle for fifth place, which his team-mate George Russell was able to achieve.

However, Wolff thinks the United States GP was his team’s best performance of the season, although he admits Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification was an odd choice. However, the team was optimistic after it appeared that the car performed well with the new underbody at Hamilton Road.

“We came up with an upgrade package that worked, the car performed well and we were chasing the leader,” Wolff said in a Mercedes video. “You can say, ‘Well, you don’t deserve to have a low car’, but there was real performance and it was a fun weekend.”

“I always say I prefer a fast car that we didn’t set up properly. Of course you have to finish, but overall it was a great weekend because the communication between the wind tunnel and the track was good.

In the same race weekend, Hamilton finished second in the sprint race, a result he was able to maintain and George Russell finished eighth. Mercedes had several second-place finishes in other races, but they had to do without a win for the first time since 2011.

Wolff describes the Brazilian GP race they won in 2022 as a very disappointing performance.

“Brazil was difficult because it was a very good race for us in 2022,” he said. “Last year we dominated the whole weekend, the sprint race and the main race, and in 2023 it was the opposite. So it was a bad moment.”

Despite failing to win the race, Mercedes finished second in the Constructors’ Championship. Wolff was satisfied with that, but third place means Mercedes can count on more time in the wind tunnel.

“If you had asked me at the start of the season, I would have said from a mental point of view whether we finish P2 or P3 is not very relevant,” admitted Wolff. “The sporting advantage is that you have more wind tunnel time next year.

“But all our staff have a financial component in the form of bonuses. I have to take care of everyone along with my senior management. That’s why it’s a very important component, even if it’s not the most relevant from a sporting point of view.

“It was great to finish second at the World Championships that evening. I didn’t expect that feeling. You could see the morale and the emotion going up through the team and that was important.