Sky F1 pundit test hints strong Mercedes W15 title potential

Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Mick Schumacher at W14 car launch — Photo: © LAT Images

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Sky F1 pundit test hints strong Mercedes W15 title potential

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has heard good things about the latest Mercedes

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 18 January 2024 09:57

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims that early reports over the team's 2024 F1 car have been highly encouraging.

Mercedes finished the last season without a grand prix victory for the first time since 2011, with securing a distant second place in the constructors' championship behind Red Bull at the final race in Abu Dhabi little more than scant consolation.

It comes on top of just one win in 2022, secured by George Russell in Brazil, leaving Wolff's team with just one victory since their vice grip on the sport came to an end in 2021.

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Mercedes dominated the sport between 2014 and 2021 winning eight constructors' championships in a row, yet despite their recent slump Wolff has extended his deal with the team.

But after a mistake in a development path heading into 2022, the team have struggled since and are now trying to get back to winning ways.

Mercedes went the whole of 2023 without a Formula 1 race victory

Mercedes have not won a race since the 2022 grand prix in Brazil

Toto Wolff is hoping Mercedes can get back to winning ways in 2024

Mercedes W15 showing good signs in simulator

Now Wolff has revealed that in simulation tests carried out virtually at the Albert Park street circuit by former F1 driver and current Sky pundit Anthony Davidson, the latest Mercedes, thought to be called the W15, is back to its swaggering ways that helped them towards world championships.

“He [Davidson] was driving Melbourne [in the sim] and he said, ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years’,” Wolff told the Telegraph.

“Obviously I would love this to correlate to the track but we’ve seen in the last two years that this was not always the case.”

The 2024 Formula 1 season gets underway on March 2 in Bahrain, with the FIA confirming the start time of every grand prix for the season on Wednesday.