Wolff urges Mercedes ‘to keep thinking rationally’

Toto Wolff welcomed Mercedes strong performance in qualifying in Melbourne but insisted his team must continue to think “rationally” and follow the course it has set out regarding the development of its 2023 car.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton clocked in second and third behind poleman Max Verstappen at the end of Saturday’s shootout, with both drivers having only good things to say about their W14 black arrow.

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The surprising performance comes on a weekend where no updates were implemented on Mercedes’ car, a specification status quo that should extend until next month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when the Brackley squad will introduce its major upgrade package that will transform the concept of its car.

Saturday’s bullish performance won’t lead to Mercedes calling into question its development path insisted Wolff.

“I think we need to be careful not to oscillate between mania and depression,” the Mercedes boss told the media at Albert Park.

“We need to keep thinking rationally, and what we’ve seen today is that there’s a lot of potential in unlocking the car.

Read also: Russell ‘disappointed’ to miss out on Melbourne pole

“It is clear that we need to take the right decisions for the long term, and in that respect, we will continue to race the best possible package we have, whether that has a narrow body or a wide body is irrelevant.

“We just need to have more downforce in the sweet spot of the car.”

Wolff said that he was keen on seeing his team avoid performance swings that only sow confusion and induce short-lived exuberance.

“These are exactly the swings that we must avoid because obviously you’re delivering such a good qualifying today and it swings into exuberance,” he said.

“And we’re like: ‘Okay everything we thought was wrong, and let’s continue to develop the car’ and then when the next bad result [happens], we think the other way around.

“We have never had any ballpark on what the car needs to look like, we know exactly where we got it wrong, we also know that there’s some goodness in the car, especially if we do every step over the weekend right and are able to extract what is in the car.”

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