F1 News: Toto Wolff explains why Mercedes will recover from difficult 2022
Toto Wolff has explained why Mercedes expects to learn its lessons from 2022 and avoid the decline of previously dominant teams in F1.
The Mercedes W13 proved the Silver Arrows' least competitive machine in almost a decade, 'only' securing one victory throughout the 2022 season.
After an almost unparalleled spell of dominance since the dawn of F1's hybrid era, the German squad has been punished for an ultimately flawed concept for these new regulations.
Despite showing occasional flashes of race-winning pace (Spain, Britain, Brazil), Mercedes has spent most of the year failing to understand the unpredictable nature of the W13.
Considering that the 2023 cars will be a continuation of this season, it would be unwise to assume the underlying issues at Mercedes will be easily addressed over winter.
Speaking to the media, Toto Wolff has explained the steps Mercedes are taking to come back stronger next year:
"We are analysing the seasons in the past for why teams that dominated over an era suddenly lost performance.
"You can trace it back pretty well; a change in the regulation, people leaving, a tyre that fundamentally changed.
"For us, the regulation changed - we got it wrong. But all the other pillars are still in place.
"I'm 100% sure that this was a difficult year that was necessary for us to re-energise the organisation."
If any team has proven capable of addressing its flaws and dragging itself back to the front of F1, it is undoubtedly Mercedes.
The Brackley-based squad demonstrated its capacity for improvement in the latter half of the 2022 season, making significant improvements relative to its rivals.
This is not to say that Mercedes completely solved its underlying limitations early in the season.
It also cannot be ignored that Mercedes showed encouraging performance in some of the first races of the year, such as in Australia and Spain.
Still, there are several weaknesses for the Silver Arrows to address ahead of a crucial 2023 season.