Wolff sees Mercedes grow: 'Progress in Saudi Arabia was encouraging'

Mercedes is trying to close the gap on Red Bull Racing and also Aston Martin in Melbourne. In a preview of the Grand Prix, team boss Toto Wolff claimed to see encouraging steps, but the Austrian also reported that success does not happen overnight.

In the team's a press release, Wolff first looked back at the last Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. In it, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth respectively. "The progress we saw in Saudi Arabia was encouraging. We maximised the package we had and scored some solid points. More importantly, we continued to learn and understand more about the W14 and our development direction. Everyone back at base has been hard at work to turn these learnings into performance."

Not getting carried away

Wolff continued: "We have got to take it step by step, though, and won't get carried away until we see performance translated into lap time on track. The competitive order behind Red Bull is tight, with small margins having a big effect on points scored. There remains a significant gap to the front and that is ultimately what we are interested in closing."

Like every team and before every race, Wolff tells to look forward to the Grand Prix, in this case to be happy to return to Australia. The team boss said Mercedes will work hard for a result. "We are not where we want to be - but that won't stop us from racing hard and giving it everything we've got," Wolff concluded.