Wolff smells potential to beat McLaren in 25: 'They're only better at this'
F1 News
It's unanimous, every F1 pundit has declared McLaren's as the best F1 car. However, for Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, the situation is not so clear cut and claims his team can challenge for the top prizes in F1 if they can 'consolidate performance' during the upcoming season.
"I'm a pessimist by nature: the glass is half empty and not half full," says Wolff in an interview with ORF. On Mercedes' chances for the season opener, the Austrian remains cautious. "If we were to fight for the podium at the front, that would be a great success. But that's not entirely clear at the moment."
The F1 world is currently going by what winter testing in Bahrain had to show in terms of pace, tyre degradation levels and overall performance, which Wolff himself refuses to rely on. "You have to be careful because Bahrain is very different from most other tracks with its rough tarmac," and not to mention the lower than expected temperatures experienced at the Bahrain International Circuit.
It's tight at the top, but 'if we can consolidate our performance...'
The Austrian sees McLaren are ahead in race trim, but also notices that the the Woking-based team, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are on par on one-lap pace, which yields an opportunity for the German team, "If we can consolidate our performance."
Will McLaren dominate Formula One in 2025? Wolff has a contrary thought to this notion which reveals his expectation of a more hard fought season: "In Melbourne and then in Shanghai, everything can be different again. Because we have different tracks and different conditions there again," he concludes.
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