© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Mercedes-Benz AG
Toto Wolff says Mercedes could change its design direction “pretty soon”, and they need to be able “to win a world championship” next year.
Mercedes did not have a perfect British Grand Prix, especially in Qualifying, but in the race the team managed to pick up a P3 and a P5.
Although the German team was surpassed by McLaren at Silverstone, after the race team boss Toto Wolff said he still believes they will be able to challenge and beat Max Verstappen eventually.
“I always believe that we can beat Max,” Wolff said.
“We have a good group of people, best drivers, we just have to give them a car and it’s more predictable.”
While Mercedes previously insisted that the shape of the sidepods is not that important when it comes to the car’s performance, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella disagreed.
Considering what a leap in performance McLaren made by making its car look more like a Red Bull, Wolff was asked to once again comment on the sidepods issue.
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“You know, we had the side pod concept and the bodywork in the tunnel, very early on already, to see which avenues it would open up and how much it would add to performance,” Toto said.
“The relative loss of downforce, the way we measured it, was substantial. So it’s not something that we wanted to follow up early in the year.
“Will we change our design direction? I think we have a great group of aerodynamicists, led by James [Allison], and I’m sure that it will be a consideration seeing the step ahead.”
Asked if it is possible for Mercedes to completely change its design philosophy, and if so, when it could happen, Wolff said:
“I think pretty soon. We have no choice. It’s about coming back, being able to win a world championship in that respect. That’s not going to happen this year.
“So we need to set our eyes into next year,” he concluded.
