{"id":18932,"date":"2024-03-03T13:56:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T18:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=18932"},"modified":"2024-03-04T03:01:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T08:01:36","slug":"toto-wolff-trauma-of-austin-still-affects-mercedes-set-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/03\/toto-wolff-trauma-of-austin-still-affects-mercedes-set-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff: &#8220;Trauma of Austin&#8221; still affects Mercedes set-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Toto Wolff admits that previous set-up mistakes are impacting Mercedes&#8217; approach to start the F1 2024 season.<\/h3>\n<p>Since Formula 1 ushered in new regulation in 2022, Mercedes have been a shadow of their former selves. One of their better showings was in COTA last year, but Toto Wolff explains that their post-race disqualification is still fresh in the memory.<\/p>\n<p>George Russell and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/01\/lewis-hamilton-reveals-qualifying-sacrifice-to-maximise-race-pace\/\" target=\"_self\">Lewis Hamilton<\/a> crossed the line 5th and 7th in the first race of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In isolation, this result is confirmation that Mercedes is still several steps behind Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>It also indicates that the Silver Arrows could pay the price for essentially wasting last winter&#8217;s development on the flawed W14 car.<\/p>\n<p>However, there was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/02\/f1-news-mercedes-miscalculation-proves-costly-in-bahrain\/\" target=\"_self\">more potential in the team&#8217;s current iteration<\/a> than the final timings suggest.<\/p>\n<p>Russell&#8217;s qualifying position is the first piece of evidence &#8211; proving that Red Bull and Ferrari are within striking range on low fuel.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"2xNVpd7qT0JguTu_cjsvjQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2048092555\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2xNVpd7qT0JguTu_cjsvjQ',sig:'CfN1SfWOwp4ZNhnyC6r6g_vh4MAgf3527Jkdo3rlYYs=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2048092555',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mercedes still unsure about set-up<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This performance is especially encouraging because, unlike the Austrian team, the Brackley-based outfit knows very little about their current baseline.<\/p>\n<p>On this note, the relatively unknown nature of the W15 is something Toto Wolff&#8217;s team must come to terms with.<\/p>\n<p>Producing a fast car is one thing, but extracting its potential is another.<\/p>\n<p>Bahrain was a perfect example of this, with an overly aggressive cooling configuration limiting Hamilton and Russell on race day.<\/p>\n<p>Overheating issues cost the team several tenths per lap.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the team was too conservative with their ride height.<\/p>\n<p>The Mercedes team principal explains that past errors contributed to this incorrect choice:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;We were a little too low [in COTA 2023]. The trauma from Austin is still in our bones,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport-total.com\/formel-1\/news\/toto-wolff-trauma-von-austin-steckt-uns-noch-in-den-knochen-24030211\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wolff explained in Bahrain.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;So we wanted to stay a little on the conservative side with a new car.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite this confession, the 52-year-old is still optimistic about the season ahead:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;We were caught on the wrong foot two years in a row, and now we have a car that suits us better.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a id=\"-wStJ7FdT5lnaD0yVgmD_Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2048051541\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'-wStJ7FdT5lnaD0yVgmD_Q',sig:'jB9jp_yKT1d_hgkKanC5lvqHlXTtu9v-WvC43CTHZW0=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2048051541',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Steep learning curve necessary at Brackley<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As it stands, all the evidence suggests that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/03\/f1-news-red-bull-upgrades-scheduled-for-upcoming-rounds\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull and Max Verstappen<\/a> already have 2024 in their control.<\/p>\n<p>It will take a monumental effort from the rest of the field to challenge for the Championship.<\/p>\n<p>However, this does not mean Verstappen is guaranteed to repeat last year&#8217;s dominance.<\/p>\n<p>For Mercedes, starting the penultimate year of these regulations, it is imperative they learn quickly.<\/p>\n<p>As McLaren proved last season, an effective development can radically improve performance.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst last year&#8217;s progress from Woking is not a common occurrence, it must be what Mercedes aspires towards in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toto Wolff admits that previous set-up mistakes are impacting Mercedes&#8217; approach to start the F1 2024 season. Since Formula 1 ushered in new regulation in 2022, Mercedes have been a shadow of their former selves. One of their better showings was in COTA last year, but Toto Wolff explains that their post-race disqualification is still [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":18933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,68,23,121,825],"class_list":["post-18932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-mercedes","tag-toto-wolff"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}