Can Mercedes fight Red Bull? Wolff clear: "No!"

Toto Wolff is not happy after two days of testing in Bahrain. Mercedes had hoped to catch up with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari over the winter, but the German racing team seem to have missed the mark again with the W14. For now, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have not been able to catch up with the other two top teams and that worries Wolff.

When asked if Wolff is satisfied, a very resolute 'no' follows. "The biggest problem is the car feels good actually. We have a really good start on the first testing day but yesterday we had poison in the car. We don't understand why it didn't perform. I have been worried 10 years already so it doesn't change any of my worries. We think we know where it is [hydraulic issue] coming from."

Red Bull too strong at the moment

However, fighting with Red Bull and Ferrari is not in the cards for the Brackley-based formation at the moment. "No, we have to be realistic. Our car is not strong enough at the moment to really fight at the front. At least not in testing. We need to consolidate and see where we are." Wolff said.

The W14 is not competitive enough, but at Mercedes, they don't think fixing the problems will take as long as it did in 2022. "I think we can fix it quick because the problems are not as big, but the train with Red Bull has left the station. We haven't raced yet and you never know yet, it could be we are unlocking potential with one decision but at the moment we haven't found that."