Toto Wolff 'encouraged' by Saudi Arabian GP despite Red Bull gulf

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Wolff 'encouraged' by Saudi Arabian GP despite Red Bull gulf

Mercedes sits second in the constructors' standings after a podium for George Russell

Ewan Gale

Sunday 19 March 2023 22:56 Updated: 23:10

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is 'encouraged' by the performance shown by the W14 after securing fourth and fifth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

George Russell had finished the race fourth at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, only to be promoted ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard was assessed a post-race time penalty for failing to serve an early punishment as dictated by the regulations.

But the podium was reverted after a right of review saw Alonso's penalty overturned.

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Mercedes' performance was, however, enough to finish comfortably ahead of Ferrari in the pecking order, whilst the team faced no reliability concerns at a weekend where Red Bull and Aston Martin faced difficulty.

"I think we would rather take a little one of those golden trophies than none," said Wolff when asked by Sky Sports F1 if he was happy with the result, speaking before Alonso's podium was reinstated.

"We are seeing some performance gains compared to Bahrain, that is nice and that is encouraging.

"It shows that the development trajectory goes in the right direction.

"Then on the flip side, we want to race for wins soon and the Red Bulls are a minute ahead."

On being second in the constructors' standings, Wolff said: "Yeah, the first loser."

Brackley 'flat out' in quest for wins

Mercedes looked set for another weekend of hardship with both drivers disgruntled following Friday practice.

But put to him that the team may be throwing out its current car concept too early, Wolff replied: "The question is, what is your benchmark?

"If you look at the Red Bulls, they are just so quick that I think we understand the car more, we are optimistic looking to the future.

"We need to put it in a different window, we are changing the bodywork of the car, how the floor works, all of these things. Mechanically, we are looking at certain areas.

"The team in Brackley is flat out and that is really nice to see."