Toto Wolff (Mercedes): "It is clear that we have taken a big step forward" in 2025

Mercedes made a successful debut last weekend in Australia. The German team achieved a solid overall result with a podium for George Russell and a 4th place for the surprising Andrea Kimi Antonelli in his first race in F1Result: in the Constructors' Championship, the Silver Arrows find themselves in 2nd place, tied with McLaren at the end of the first round of the season. Faced with the domination of the British team with Lando Norris and to a Max Verstappen Still as impressive as ever, Mercedes could hardly do better in Melbourne.

"We leave Australia with many positives, but also a healthy dose of realism about our place in the rankings, entrusts Toto wolff, Mercedes Team Principal, before heading to ChinaThe W16 offers more stability to the drivers: it was less prone to performance variations depending on the conditions, and at times showed sufficient speed to compete with the best. It is clear that we have made a big step forward during the winter. Our goal now is to unleash the full potential and improve performance. We are looking forward to this challenge."

China as a revelation for Mercedes

While Mercedes is aware of the gap it still has to McLaren in terms of pure pace, in qualifying and in the race, the German team can still be satisfied with having one of the best race paces in the field. During Free Practice last Friday, the Silver Arrows were even the fastest over the long runs with the C3 and C4 tires, the hardest offered this weekend. On the other hand, both drivers struggled with the C5 tire, the softest in the Pirelli range, with problems warming up the tires. Fortunately for Toto Wolff's team, Pirelli will bring C2, C3 and C4 tires to China and should be more comfortable on its compounds.

Last weekend's satisfaction also came from Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who produced a very good performance in Australia for his first Grand Prix in Formula 1. The Italian, eliminated in Q1 the day before, knew how to play with the changing conditions to climb up to 4th place, the best result for a rookie driver in his first race in F1 since Kevin Magnussen in 2014.

"He could not have hoped for a more difficult mission for his first Grand Prix, starting from the back of the grid in extremely difficult conditions, with a track that was sometimes treacherous. Nevertheless, he was able to face everything that was thrown at him with a maturity that far exceeded his years, Toto Wolff emphasizesHis speed was impressive, and his confidence and determination when overtaking were superb. There will be some tough times for him during the season, but we are delighted with the trajectory we are already seeing from him." Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes will have to confirm their strong start to the season in Shanghai this weekend, where we'll certainly have a better idea of ​​the hierarchy in dry conditions. Unless the Sprint format reshuffles the cards again within the field...

ALSO READ > Verstappen says Red Bull has 'a lot of work to do before fighting for victory' in 2025