Toto Wolff admits Max Verstappen domination F1 'low point'

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Wolff admits Verstappen domination F1 'low point'

The Mercedes F1 team principal has been brutally honest about the 2023 season

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Wednesday 20 December 2023 18:57

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that Max Verstappen's domination of the Brazilian Grand Prix was a 'low point', especially after the team had claimed victory at Interlagos in 2022.

George Russell's victory for Mercedes in Sao Paulo last year remains as the last time the Silver Arrows had a driver on the top step of the podium.

Lewis Hamilton came home in second to secure a Mercedes one-two, with the man from King's Lynn also securing victory in a sprint that proved to be an emphatic weekend for Wolff's team.

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Yet a return to Brazil in 2023 would prove to be a nightmare for Mercedes, with Russell recording a DNF result while Hamilton could only secure P8 in his W14.

Verstappen meanwhile would replicate Russell's feat in 2022, winning both the sprint race and Sunday's grand prix.

Max Verstappen claimed victory for Red Bull at the 2023 Brazil Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton could only manage P8 for Mercedes, as George Russell recorded a DNF result

And reflecting on the season as a whole, Wolff believes that Brazil stands out as the lowest point for the team in 2023.

Wolff: Brazil weekend was Mercedes low point

“It’s difficult because there have been so many [moments] where we had high expectations and it kind of didn’t come as we’d expected," he told the team's official YouTube channel.

“I believe maybe Brazil [was the low point of the season], because that was such a good race for us in 2022. We dominated the whole weekend [last year], the sprint race and the main race, and then in 2023, the opposite was the case. So maybe that was a bad moment."

Toto Wolff has overseen some difficult moments with Mercedes in 2023

Conversely, Wolff declared that securing P2 in the constructors' championship on Sunday in Abu Dhabi as the highlight of the season, as they edged out Ferrari by just three points.

“A good moment was Sunday night in Abu Dhabi," he added.

"I never give big attention to P2 and P3; we want to come P1. But then doing it [finishing P2] and being able to score that was emotionally and morally important for the team. That was a good moment.”