Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff says the United States Grand Prix was their best round in 2023, despite Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification from the race.
Hamilton lost second place due to excessive wear on his car’s plank. His team mate George Russell was therefore the team’s only finisher in the grand prix, taking fifth place.
Wolff admitted it “might sound strange” to pick the United States Grand Prix as their best event “because we got disqualified.” However he said the team drew genuine encouragement from how well their car performed after they introduced a new floor for it that weekend.
“We brought an upgrade package that worked, the car was performing well and we were hunting down the leader,” he said in a video published by the team. “You could say, ‘well, you were disqualified for a car that was too low’, but the genuine performance was there and that was an enjoyable weekend.
“I’ve always said that I’d rather have a fast car that we haven’t tuned in the right way. Obviously you need to finish, but that was the best weekend overall, seeing that the correlation between the wind tunnel and the track was good.”
Hamilton finished second in the sprint race that weekend – a result he kept – while Russell was eighth. The team took three other second places in grands prix but went without a win for the first time since 2011.
“It’s difficult because there have been so many moments where we had high expectations and it didn’t pan out as we’d expected,” Wolff said.
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He identified the return to Interlagos, the scene of the team’s sole win of the previous season, as one of their most disappointed events.
“Brazil was difficult because that was such a good race for us in 2022,” he said. “We dominated the whole weekend last year, the sprint race and the main race, and then in 2023 the opposite was the case. So that was a bad moment.”
Despite failing to win a race, the team moved up one place to second in the constructors’ championship compared to last year.
“A good moment was Sunday night in Abu Dhabi,” said Wolff. “I never paid lots of attention to P2 and P3; we of course want to come P1. But then finishing P2 was emotionally and morally important for the team. That was a good moment.”
He acknowledged that slipping to third place in the constructors’ championship would have given them the benefit of more aerodynamic development time under F1’s handicapping rules, but said the higher position offered other benefits.
“From a mindset perspective, if you would have asked me at the beginning of the season, I would have said it’s not very relevant whether we finish P2 or P3,” Wolff admitted. “The sporting advantage is that you have more wind tunnel time for next year.
“But then there is a financial component for all our staff in terms of bonus. I need to look after everyone together with my senior management. Therefore, it is a very important component, even though maybe from the sporting side, it is not so relevant.
“Having finished second in the world championship that evening, it felt great. I wasn’t expecting to have that feeling. You could see a boost of morale and emotion that was going through the team and that was important.”
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2023 United States Grand Prix
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