Is disaster year 2022 the starting point of new hegemony for Mercedes?

With the entry of the new F1 regulations in 2022, Mercedes is no longer the giant it was in recent years. Team boss Toto Wolff is not grieving, as the Austrian insinuates that in the long term Mercedes will once again become an opponent to be reckoned with.

The era of V6 turbo-hybrid engines was dominated by Mercedes, but the start of the new era that began this year is not so impressive for Mercedes. To become the hegemonic power in Formula 1 again, Mercedes needs to take a big step towards Red Bull Racing and Ferrari and beyond. Wolff believes his team has that in them and notes that with every loss the team suffers, of which they have had plenty this season, there is a great learning moment.

Mercedes getting ready for resurrection 

For example, Wolff says in his 'mid-season review' at YouTube: "There is not a lot that really went so well if you consider that our expectations were to fight for a world championship, but we need to take the positives. And it’s what we’ve said in the past, the days we lose are the days we learn the most and I think that is what happened. Our car was really difficult, it didn’t improve at times." Although the team has taken a good step forward and is now clearly the third team on the grid, Mercedes are not expected to be able to get past Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of speed this season.

Victory may still be in the cards this year with some luck on Mercedes' side, but Wolff is already focusing on the years ahead: "I think the learnings that we made, the tough learning, will help us over many years, but also our timespan is not a single weekend or even a single year. We’re looking at continuing to develop the organisation over two years and five years and ten years, and for this maybe the learnings and the toughness we had to feel this year can be beneficial”