Red Bull and McLaren have gained potential momentum ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Toto Wolff admitting that the Mercedes W15 is not yet capable of winning every single race.
After almost two years without winning a race, Mercedes has returned to the winner’s circle in recent weeks with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton triumphing in Austria and Great Britain respectively.
It is the first time Mercedes has won back-to-back races since the final weeks of the 2021 season, when Hamilton won three in a row in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to set up a final showdown with Max Verstappen.
Despite struggling with ground effect regulations introduced in 2022, Mercedes have started from pole in the last two Hungary GPs, with Russell and Hamilton on pole in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Although Wolff believes Mercedes now has “momentum” ahead of the double-header between Hungary and Belgium, the veteran team boss is convinced the W15 is fast enough to compete for victory at all circuits.
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However, he also said that the team will continue to innovate until the summer break as Mercedes aims to close the gap to Red Bull and McLaren.
He said: “We head into the next double-header with momentum.
“We continue to make progress with the W15 in the last few races. This had effects in Austria and Silverstone.
“However, we know that we still don’t have a car that can fight for the win every weekend.
“The team is working hard to provide more functionality steps that we hope will get us there. These efforts will continue for the next two races and until the end. »
Wolff’s comments come after he claimed that Verstappen, the reigning three-time world champion, deserves not to join Mercedes until the team can prove a convincing option for existing employers, Red Bull, with the Silver Arrows still absent from the track.
Mercedes are of late looking for Hamilton’s successor after the seven-time world champion announced he would be joining Ferrari on a multi-year deal starting in F1 2025, and Wolff has said in the past that he would “love” to sign Verstappen. to update it.
He told the media and added to PlanetF1. com: “We want two more people to crash to the front to win right now.
“I think we still have to look at ourselves and say, ‘What can we do to have a car that can compete with the two in front and do it more consistently?’»
“And I think this is the moment when we can say that we can be a port or a destination for drivers,” Max added.
“But we’re not there yet, so if I were him, I wouldn’t make that decision. Again. “
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