© Sulay Kelly for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says he sees “only positives”, after McLaren won the Miami Grand Prix “with a Mercedes engine”.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, nobody believed that McLaren or any other team can beat Red Bull. However, the big upgrades that McLaren introduced in Miami seem to have worked, as Lando Norris was able to hold off Max Verstappen to pick up the victory.
In light of Mercedes’ current issues, some observers have even been questioning the team’s engines, however, team boss Toto Wolff says a win by a Mercedes-powered team shows “you can make these steps if you bring in the right upgrades and do the right work”.
“I want to congratulate McLaren, Lando, Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO], Andrea [Stella, McLaren Team Principal] and the team, because we looked at last year’s results and they were 16th and 19th in qualifying and race,” the Austrian said.
“They have made such a massive step since last summer. And they won fair and square, and this is with a Mercedes engine.
“And that is so important for all of us to see that you can make these steps if you bring in the right upgrades and do the right work.
“So, I see only positives. Lando’s victory was overdue for a long time. It’s good for the sport, so I see lots of positives.”
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Wolff then listed some other positives from the race.
“In terms of the positives for the teams, we were quicker than Perez at the end on the same tyre.
“Probably quicker than the bunch ahead, but they were on the Hard, so you need to see that in a relative way.
“On the Hard, we struggled a lot, but I wasn’t happy on Friday at all with the Sprint race.
“Then we put in some solid work, structured for the grand prix qualifying, accepting that this is the pace level at the moment and then just carrying it over into the race.
“And finishing sixth and eighth is not something to be proud of, but it’s a step in the right direction,” he concluded.
