Toto Wolff believes Mercedes has “halved the disadvantage” it faced prior to its “encouraging” performance in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
A difficult start to the season has seen the Brackley-based team on the back foot compared to previous years, prompting it to bring a series of upgrades to Barcelona in a bid to improve its form.
The changes transformed the pace of the W13, with Russell battling both Red Bull’s on his way to a podium finish, while Hamilton fought back from a first-lap puncture to finish P5.
The seven-time world champion’s charge through the field was confirmation for Mercedes that it has made a step in the right direction, with team boss Wolff reckoning Hamilton had a package capable of challenging for victory.
“That looked like a world championship-winning race car that he was driving, and that would have not been possible in the previous races,” Wolff said about Hamilton’s recovery drive, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“That reminded me of last year and the years before, when a car is really on the top of its game.”
Asked if Mercedes was now in a position to make this year’s title battle a three-way fight with Ferrari and Red Bull, Wolff said: “I’ve seen a race car today that reminded me of the race cars of previous seasons, where you’re 30 plus seconds behind the whole field, and you come all the way to the front and near the podium.
“That is very encouraging and shows that we’ve made another step.
“Can we fight for a world championship? Well, we bet we can. But we just need to have a car that is able to finish first and second. And I think we have reasons to believe that we can get there.
“If you look at the odds, they are against us. But motor racing is a different ballgame. We’ve seen today that Ferrari didn’t score a lot of points although they should. We are absolutely pushing flat out in order to bring us back into the game.”
While neither Mercedes driver it is yet to stand on the top step of the podium this year, Russell and Hamilton remain with an outside chance of the drivers’ title.
Hamilton is more than two race wins behind championship leader Max Verstappen, but Russell’s six top-five finishes this season leave him only 36 points back.
Wolff acknowledged Mercedes still faces a huge task to match the pace of the top two teams, but says the team’s “big step” this weekend has reduced the gap.
“These regulations have caught us off guard in a way, and step by step we are understanding what we need to do in order to bring the performance back into the car,” he said.
“We’ve seen another big step this weekend, and probably we have halved the disadvantage to the front runners. But still there is lots of way to go in order to be right up there in the fight.
“But having said that, we’re third with George and that’s strong. His driving was unbelievable, the defending, the positioning. I’m so proud and happy in a way to see that: and a great star or a great driver in the making.”
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