Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that the team is still missing “two tenths” to be able to win Formula 1 races in 2024 amid another podium in the Spanish Grand Prix.
The German outfit’s recent uptick continued in Barcelona as Lewis Hamilton converted third spot on the grid into his first rostrum appearance since October last term.
George Russell provided hope Mercedes could even challenge for the win when he capitalised on Lando Norris and Max Verstappen’s tussle to take the lead at Turn 1.
However, Verstappen blasted back through on the third lap using DRS and then Norris was able to pass both Mercedes drivers with newer rubber later in proceedings.
Hamilton overtook his team-mate to claim the final position on the podium when he switched to the gripper Soft compound his final stop while Russell was on Hards.
Wolff has conceded that, in hindsight, the choice to box Russell earlier at his second pit stop to switch over to the Hard was the incorrect call at that stage in the race.
“When you look where we ended up, obviously George on the Hard was the wrong strategy,” Wolff said.
“Clearly that goes on the team. And we had a slow stop that was three seconds.
Asked whether Mercedes underestimated the Soft being a viable option at the end, Wolff suggested that Russell’s struggles inspired Hamilton’s extended middle stint.
“I think we were pretty convinced that the hard was the right thing to do,” he added regarding Russell going to Hards.
“And obviously to our disadvantage we didn’t have any new [Softs] left, which gives you maybe another two laps.
“George was the first one we changed and then we realised that’s not going well. Then Lewis was able to extend his stint and he was the beneficiary of the hindsight.”
Hamilton would trail home over 15 seconds behind second-placed Norris, who produced a hard charge at the end to prop up 2.2s back from race-winner Verstappen.
Wolff contends that the end margin was inflated due to circumstances in the race and believes that Mercedes can draw encouragement from the representative gap.
“If you look at where Lewis was, 15 seconds behind the leaders, whilst taking the pace out at the end, so maybe call it 10 seconds, so that’s much closer,” he assessed.
“They weren’t holding back, Max and Norris. So there’s a reason to be carefully optimistic that we are much closer and will be able to fight.”
But despite the inroads the team has made to be back competing at the sharp end, Wolff insists Mercedes is lagging three-tenths a lap behind Red Bull and McLaren.
Asked whether a win was possible soon, the Austrian replied: “I think what you’ve seen yesterday and also today, the gap is probably around three-tenths to these two.
“That’s what’s missing and if we are able to bridge that, bearing in mind they also put upgrades on the car, then maybe we could be racing for victory.
“But that’s not in our hands yet. Montreal, and conditions here, we could have won. But probably we surprised ourselves and maybe that’s why we dropped the ball there.”
