Mercedes Chief Reveals Clear Trajectory For W14 After Tumultuous Season Start

Toto Wolff speaks out on the performance of the W14 ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that the team now has a clear path for the W14 after the Australian Grand Prix.

The race weekend in Melbourne had a promising start for the Brackley-based squad with George Russell qualifying in second behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in third. Unfortunately, Russell was forced to retire during the race with a power unit failure, however, Hamilton went on to secure a second-place podium for the team. 

During an interview on the team's website, Wolff explained:

“In Australia...we saw glimpses of performance in our car that encourages us for the next part of the season.

"In terms of car development, it is encouraging to see that within three races, we understand the car much better, we have defined a clear direction where we need to go and I believe we are on the right trajectory.

“We need to consolidate our understanding and hopefully over the next few races we can make another step.

"It's also important to keep on track and not oscillate too much between exuberance and depression; to stay rational and believe in our trajectory, believe in the capability of the team.

“There will be setbacks but there will also be upgrades and plenty of work that will help us get closer to the front."

Wolff isn't the only one feeling more positive about the teams performance. Hamilton was clearly very happy to be back on the podium and seemed encouraged by the developments. He explained after the Australian Grand Prix:

“To get a podium today is amazing; I definitely didn’t expect to be second this weekend, so I am super grateful.

“Considering we’re down on performance, to be fighting with the Aston Martins is amazing for us at this point in the season.

"We’ve just got to keep fighting. A big thank you to all the people back at the factory. We can close that gap; it’s going to be tough but not impossible. It was very unlucky for George today. Our reliability has generally been pretty good so that was unfortunate.”