The past two Formula 1 race weekends have not been too kind to Toto Wolff and Mercedes.
Two weeks ago in Austin, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started at the back of the grid in the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton after a shocking elimination in Q1 and Russell after a shunt in Q3 forced the team to make changes to his W15, requiring a pit lane start. While Russell managed to get into the points in Austin, Hamilton spun out of the race on just the second lap.
In Mexico City last weekend, the team delivered a third-row lockout, with Hamilton finishing fifth and Russell sixth. Still, they lacked the pace to fight at the front in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Now they head to Brazil for the final race of this triple-header, hoping for “smoother” sailing in South America.
“The past two races in Austin and Mexico City have not been our cleanest so we are aiming for a smoother weekend at Interlagos,” said Wolff in the team’s media preview. “Despite the challenges in the US and Mexico, we have furthered our learning with the W15. Given our position in the championship, we have been able to test things out with little penalty. Whilst we are still focused on maximizing our result each and every weekend, that testing and learning will be valuable in setting us up strongly for 2025. We will continue that approach this weekend in Brazil.
”Interlagos is a proper driver’s circuit with plenty of undulation and a challenge mix of low, medium, and high-speed corners. Given that it is the penultimate Sprint format of the year, we will have to execute effectively from the first session to get the car in a good window,” added Wolff. “We know it will be difficult to challenge the Ferraris and the McLarens who have looked strong in recent races. We will still be working hard to do so though and will see where our relative performance is over the weekend.”
Mercedes enters the final stretch of the season, sitting fourth in the Constructors’ Championship standings. The gap to Red Bull in front of them is 146 points, likely too big a mountain for the Silver Arrows to climb over the final four race weekends.
But a smoother time of things in Brazil would be a good start to that climb.
