Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes will keep 'important' 2023 car

Toto Wolff and Mercedes at Canadian Grand Prix — Photo: © LAT Images

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Wolff reveals Mercedes will keep 'important' 2023 car

The German insisted that the car will help them in the future

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 27 November 2023 22:27

Toto Wolff has said that Mercedes won't just 'push the car into a corner somewhere' after a disappointing 2023 campaign.

The team have struggled with inconsistencies all season, with neither seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton or George Russell being able to challenge at the front regularly.

Claiming second in the constructors' championship at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will have been some consolation to them, but overall, things have looked pretty bleak, particularly as Hamilton's old rival Max Verstappen has been able to break countless records.

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Whilst they were only the third best team in 2022, they did manage significantly more points last season, and claimed a race victory through Russell at the Brazilian GP.

Toto Wolff has been left frustrated throughout the year

Lewis Hamilton has suffered another season of inconsistencies at Mercedes

George Russell was the last Mercedes driver to win a Grand Prix, at the Brazilian GP in 2022

Mercedes 2024 hopes rest on 2023

Now, Mercedes team principal Wolff has given his overwhelming thoughts on the season in general.

"I'm torn. Today we ‘won’ second place, but it still reminds you that it's not the first place," he said, speaking to Sky Germany after the Abu Dhabi GP.

"That's why I always said that 2nd or 3rd makes little difference to me. It is important for the team that we now take the momentum with us from a positive weekend after so many negative ones. We just have to do a better job next year.

"My first reaction is always that I want to push the car into a corner somewhere, but these two cars are important. Last year's car was so bold with the radical design we had. On paper it was fast but in reality it wasn't.

"That was a step that was perhaps important for our long-term development. We stuck with the car because we won in Brazil and we were really good there. But then this year it was clear from the start that it wasn't possible. These cars are important in a way that you remember how quickly you can get it wrong.

"Well, someone said to us today that if you add up the last ten years, it was second, first, first, first, first, first, first, first, third, second. If we look back in 20 years, it won't sound so bad, but we want to keep fighting at the front for now."

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Toto Wolff Abu Dhabi Grand Prix