Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, was not pleased with how his team performed in the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi because they committed several errors.
George Russell, who started in the third row, ended in fifth place, while Lewis Hamilton was forced to withdraw from the race with a technical issue. As a result, the legendary 16-season F1 career of the seven-time world champion saw him experience his first winless season.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Wolff bemoaned how Mercedes’ troubles were caused by frying the tyres after the opening few circuits. He stated:
“That was genuinely bad. All the faults you can make, such as driving a car slower than you should have. Today’s third-fastest vehicle had one car break down and another run out of tires. Here we are, and that was a succinct assessment of the season.”
He went on: “I believe the first few laps were when we burnt the tyres. The car appeared to be pretty well as we attacked hard. But then the front right immediately gave out. Perhaps we should have anticipated it, but that is the result.”
The Mercedes team was aware that the race in Abu Dhabi would be challenging, the company’s CEO continued. After Mercedes claimed their first victory of the year last week in Brazil, Wolff at least managed to discover a few silver linings. He stated:
“Abu Dhabi was anticipated to be challenging for the vehicle, but at least the link is strong. Brazil was simply amazing, leading from start to finish with a one-two. And at least we checked the box by winning the race.”
“We are advancing to next year,” said a Mercedes executive
Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, said that the W13, the team’s F1 challenger for 2022, will be positioned at the entrance to both of its buildings in Brackley and Brixworth as a warning of how dire things may go.
He stated: “To start with, we’ll display these vehicles at the Brackley and Brixworth reception area to serve as a constant reminder of how challenging things may be. This is a season of character development thanks to everyone who has been watching Sky at HPP and MGP.”
He went on: “We persisted in pushing, and the engine ran well. On the chassis side, we made good progress. And when we looked back a week ago, it gave us the confidence we needed to go on to the next year. Although feeling this way is incorrect and awful, we must go on to the following year.”
Mercedes finished the season with just one victory, which was their lowest season in the turbo hybrid era (Brazil).
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