How Mercedes are escaping 'dead-end street' with W14.
Wolff added that Mercedes had come to realise that their current concept had no prospect of being successful, and that the team had decided to cut their losses on it.
22 March 11:15AM
Author Michael Butterworth
RacingNews365

"We headed into one direction last year and we wanted to make it work, and it worked and it got better and better," said Wolff. "But now, we really realised it's a dead-end street. These are the facts and everybody knows that now. So we turned around and we're running fast out of that dead-end street."

The Austrian also rejected the notion that Mercedes would look to take inspiration from Red Bull or Aston Martin, both of whose cars have proven quicker than Mercedes so far in 2023. "I don't know you can call it a Red Bull or Aston Martin concept," Wolff added.

"If it looked like an English double decker bus, we would do it if it was fast. Put a little Red Bull sticker, if they want to put it on. It's just about pure performance; we have no dogma on who invented it."

‘Escaping 'dead-end street' ’;

https://racingnews365.com/how-merced...treet-with-w14


Toto Wolff details how budget cap affects Mercedes’ recovery chances
22 Mar 2023 2:00 PM
Thomas Maher
PlanetF1.com

Toto Wolff is still a proponent for the budget cap, but admitted it will hold Mercedes back from making a fast recovery. “But obviously, if you’re on the back foot, like we are at the moment, it doesn’t allow you to build a second chassis. But I think our fundamental problem is not building a second chassis or throwing stuff at the car.”

“It’s more about a direction that we’ve taken that’s wrong. And I think if we… When we change it now, that’s going to be limited by the budget cap, but not in the way that you would expect, like we’re not able to develop. We’re still able to develop but it will mean we need to spend time on a new concept, on new ideas, and we need to discontinue the old one,” he said.

“So, in the short term, it could mean you make a step back before making two forward, but these are the rules. They have been introduced exactly for the reason to put the field stronger together, which will eventually happen. I mean, Red Bull is showing us that if you do a good job you can outperform everybody else. But for us, these are the rules and we need to still do a better job.”

‘Fundamental problem is not building a second chassis’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/toto-w...edes-recovery/


Mercedes working ‘flat-out’ on new F1 concept after reaching ‘dead-end’
22nd March 2023, 11:22
Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths
Read Motorsport

Mercedes is working “flat-out” to develop a change of concept for its 2023 Formula 1 car in a bid to turn around its form, according to team boss Toto Wolff. Asked if there was a timeframe for when the updates would be completed, Wolff added:

“I think we’re making big elephant steps at the moment, going forward. It’s going to be a long time until they are adequate to challenge Red Bull, but it’s a super-fun journey to climb back.”

‘Mercedes working ‘flat-out’ ’;

https://readmotorsport.com/2023/03/2...hing-dead-end/


Toto Wolff told to take criticism 'like a man' as Eddie Jordan lays into Hamilton's boss
Tensions rise at Mercedes as the squad continues to lack pace compared to Red Bull.
11:56, Wed, Mar 22, 2023
By Luke Chillingsworth
Daily and Sunday Express

Toto Wolff should face criticism of Mercedes' failures “like a man”, according to former team boss Eddie Jordan. Wolff has been told to “face up to the fact” Mercedes got it wrong over their new concept as the Silver Arrows are unable to challenge the frontrunners for the second successive season.

Jordan told OLBG: “We saw the Mercedes car was poor last year, porpoising up and down but they have eradicated some of that. Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion who has a really impressive teammate in George Russell who was beaten his expectations so far.”

“I'm critical of Toto Wolff of how he criticised his engineers and how they took their eye off the ball, it's all been done under his watch so it's his responsibility. The book starts with him, Wolff should face the criticism like a man, like a team boss, like a chief executive and face up to the fact that Mercedes have got it wrong.”

“Face up to the fact”;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ilton-mercedes


Hamilton unease with W14 rear-end 'can't be cured quickly'
21/03/2023 at 14:49
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Toto Wolff says Mercedes is aware of a fundamental issue on its W14 car that is impairing Lewis Hamilton, but it's unfortunately one that "can't be cured quickly".

"We're a long way down on downforce," explained Hamilton last weekend. "So we've got to pick up the rear end downforce particularly. The more rear we gain, the more stable the rear becomes, and the more confident I'll be able to attack.”

"But I think in general, just this car, even if we do change that, there's a specific thing with something on the car that I have never had before. It's a position I've not had in previous years' cars. For me, it's the thing that is making me uncomfortable. I've just got to work hard to make sure it is changed."

‘W14 rear-end 'can't be cured quickly' ’;

https://f1i.com/news/469613-hamilton...d-quickly.html


Wolff details how Mercedes are approaching W14 concept shift after going down ‘dead-end street’
20 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Mercedes hold third in the constructors’ standings heading to round three in Australia, level on 38 points with Aston Martin, while Red Bull sit 49 clear at the top of the table.

Toto Wolff has provided another update on Mercedes’s development plans for their 2023 challenger, with the team embarking on a concept change after a tough start to the new F1 season.

“If you look at the Red Bulls, they are just so quick. [But] I think we understand the car more [and] I’m looking optimistically [to] the future. We just need to put it in a different window,” the Mercedes team boss commented.

‘Different window’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...F7yGc5F35.html