Toto Wolff makes Mercedes vow despite "on paper" deficit

Toto Wolff, Mercedes, Mexico City GP, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Mercedes - Toto Wolff

Wolff makes Mercedes vow despite "on paper" deficit

Hamilton has finished second in each of the last two races

Sam Hall

Wednesday 9 November 2022 15:44

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Toto Wolff vowed to keep Mercedes' momentum going to the end of the season despite conceding the Interlagos to be a tougher prospect than the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and fourth in Mexico but the race was overshadowed by a bizarre strategy call where both drivers were switched onto the less favourable hard tyre.

Prior to this, Hamilton had been in the frame to score his and the team's first win of the season.

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"We didn't optimise every opportunity in Mexico, but we still managed to score good points with Lewis's great drive to the podium and George's P4 finish," said team principal Wolff. "It was encouraging to be in the fight for the win, showing how far we've come since the start of the year. While we're always aiming for the top spot, we should be proud of that progress and we're aiming to keep it going through the end of the year and into 2023."

Mercedes' "good memories" in Brazil

Mercedes has scored the victory in five of the last seven races at Interlagos and the team's affinity with the country grew further on Tuesday, as Hamilton was made an honorary citizen of the country.

However, Wolff believes the São Paulo Grand Prix will present a bigger challenge than other recent events. "Brazil kicks off the final double-header of the season. Interlagos is an iconic track and the scene of so many special F1 moments, including Lewis's spectacular performance last year in the sprint and the race," Wolff added. "We're proud to be coming back to Brazil, with Lewis having been made an honorary citizen this week and having had such good memories there in the past. "On paper, it shouldn't be quite as strong a circuit for us as Mexico, but regardless, we want to keep up our momentum from recent races. So, we will keep working hard to hopefully be in the mix once again."