It is not so far away the time when the hope of seeing Mercedes Returning to the top spot was very real. With five podiums including three wins in six races before the summer break, the Silver Arrows were highly anticipated in the Netherlands and Italy.
However, in the last two European rounds of the 2024 championship, the German team was not there with the two seventh places of George Russell and the 8e and 5e places of Lewis Hamilton. In Azerbaijan, Mercedes is keen to do better, to find the path to the podium after understanding what went wrong in the last two Grands Prix. In any case, this is the objective displayed by Toto wolff.
« We are going to Baku with the aim of achieving a better performance than in Zandvoort and Monza., said the Austrian Team Principal. These two races were difficult for us. Our relative pace was not as high as before the summer break and several of our competitors took a step forward. We showed good pace at times over both weekends, but we were not able to exploit it consistently. We have spent time since then analysing the reasons for this situation. We have the opportunity to show that we have learned the necessary lessons and made improvements for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore. »
Bye bye Europe
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix marks the end of the rounds on the Old Continent for this end of the championship, which continues on two urban circuits: Baku and Singapore. Historically, the first has smiled a lot on Mercedes. Since its introduction in 2016, the firm with the star has won three races in Azerbaijan, sharing the victories with Red BullFor Toto Wolf, this last part of the 2024 season represents an important challenge.
« Both circuits in Baku and Singapore are challenging. They are bumpy, with lots of low-speed and 90-degree corners, but also many high-speed sections. They are a very different test to the ones we faced in the Netherlands and Italy. The traditional European part of the season is now behind us. We have eight races to go before the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi. We are determined to finish the season as well as we can. There are still plenty of races to go and we will be fighting for every point we can, starting this weekend in Baku. »
To achieve this goal this weekend, it will be necessary to compete with the McLaren et Ferrari, in good shape after Monza and more generally since the return of the F1 after the summer break.
ALSO READ > The reasons behind Adrian Newey's marriage with Aston Martin
Continue reading on these topics:
Comment on this article! 0