Toto Wolff thinks the W13 should be in the lobby of the Mercedes Formula 1 factory, he tells Motorsport.com. The car driven in the 2022 season is regarded as the worst car Mercedes has produced in recent years. By putting it in the factory, it should symbolize the courage that Mercedes has shown, says the team boss.
To put it mildly, the team boss of drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was not pleased with the W13, in which the drivers had to take to the circuits in 2022. Last season he sometimes said that the car could be hidden in the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, but he has since come back to that.
“The car will arrive in the lobby of the Brackley factory,” says the Austrian firmly. “It will be put there as a reminder that we can’t just sit back and still work hard for results.” The W13 was a gamble by the Mercedes team, changing the design a bit in contrast to the other F1 teams, for example with their zeropods concept, which has not worked out as positively as initially hoped.
Wolff: “Mercedes continues to take risks, we are not a boring team”
The fact that Mercedes has made the decision to take a different approach than before is, according to Wolff, a good example of the mindset that the team has. “We have shown that we can handle adversity well,” says the team boss. “I don’t want to be a conservative or safe team, we keep taking risks and fighting for the best results.”
The racing season in 2022 delivered disappointing results compared to the seasons before. George Russell was the only driver to take a win; he won the Grand Prix in Brazil. In the end, the German team finished in third place in the standings. According to Wolff, it is not unreasonable that Mercedes has had a disconcerting season. “It’s impossible to win all the time,” says Wolff. “In the end we got stronger and towards the end of the season we showed that we definitely made good adjustments.”
Disappointing season has led to personal growth at Wolff
During this lesser period at Mercedes, the team boss has also learned new things about himself. “Sometimes you can prepare for situations, but that was not the case in this case,” says the Austrian. “The season was filled with high expectations and a lot of emotions, so it was uncertain what each day would bring,” explains the 51-year-old. ‘Personally this has resulted in a lot of growth, but we also learned a lot together as an organisation. I think that can bring us a lot to the new season.’
