Wolff stays true to concept: "Don't look at the neighbour"

Mercedes closed the GP weekend in Miami as the third best team. It is starting to frustrate Toto Wolff that the potential of the W13 is still not maximised. Still, the Austrian wants to wait a while with a new concept.

Russell started the weekend in the United States strongly with the fastest time in the second free practice session. The Briton converted this into a P5 in the race. He beat his teammate with a confident decision to drive long and hope for a safety car. P5 and P6 make Mercedes the third team on the grid, which Wolff believes is not enough after winning the constructors' title eight years in a row.

Wolff is not ogling the neighbour just yet

With the stubborn concept (without side pods) Mercedes has not found an interesting advantage. On the contrary, they are behind the times. For the time being, the team boss does not want to abandon the concept, but after the race in Barcelona, this could change. De Telegraaf quotes the team boss: "In Barcelona, we can compare the car with the way it was during the winter tests. After that we have to look in the mirror. At the moment we are still faithful to the current concept. We are not looking at the neighbour whether it is nicer or not."

A major turnaround at Mercedes is therefore not yet ruled out, but the team is still waiting for the next Grand Prix in Spain. Wolff continues: "It is clear that there is potential in the car, but we just don't understand how to get that out. It's a painful process because it takes a long time." Mercedes has had very chaotic weekends over the past five races. The team tries all sorts of things every free practice session, but the data often does not match the drivers' feedback. With Hamilton, for example, the porpoising seemed to be severely reduced this weekend. During practice, we still saw that in Russell's case.