HAPPY,BUT VROOM TO IMPROVE
Wolff has lot in the bank for Monte Carlo
TOTO WOLFF admitted he is “not yet ecstatic” after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both drove storming races in Barcelona.
The Mercedes team principal saw Russell enjoy a thrilling battle at the front of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix and make the podium (far left) while Hamilton recovered from a first-lap puncture to storm through for a fifth-placed finish.
In fact, Wolff reckons had Hamilton (top right with Russell) not been involved in an early collision with Kevin Magnussen, he would have been challenging eventual winner Max Verstappen for victory.
Wolff has cut a downbeat figure in the opening two months of the Formula One season, but he could hardly conceal his delight with his drivers, labelling Russell’s third place effort as “spectacular.”
However, the Mercedes boss was quick to stress the team has some way to go to get back into contention at the top of the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
Russell is fourth in the standings, 36 points behind leader Verstappen, with Hamilton 28 points behind his team-mate. In the constructors’ table, the German giants are 75 points adrift of Red Bull and 49 short of Ferrari.
Wolff (below) said: “It was a very pleasing weekend with lots of positive signs, even though I’m not yet ecstatic.
“We had a solid race to beat Ferrari and, with Lewis, we had probably the fastest race car of the day.
“George put up a spectacular defence to Max, the way he positioned the car was spot on, the kind of racing we love to see and he managed the car well at the end to bring home another podium.
“For Lewis, he had misfortune on the opening lap but what a recovery drive from then on, fantastic.
“As a driver, it’s always difficult when you are 50 seconds down but we never give up and his pace at the end was stunning – he could have raced for the win.”
The positive vibes coming from the Mercedes garage suggest they are confident of challenging the Red Bull and Ferrari in the near future.
But, as the drivers head to Monte Carlo for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Wolff says the job of catching up with the front-runners is only 50 percent done.
He added: “We need to just unpick the Barcelona race now, analyse the data, and try to improve step-by-step for a race win.
“The weekend was better than expected because I am always pessimistic.
“We’ve moved clear from the midfield, at least in Barcelona, and caught up half a second to the front runners.
“We unlocked the potential of the car by tweaking things on the stops and there’s definitely more to come.”