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Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff attended the Australian Grand Prix Friday Press Conference. Here is the full transcript.
Q: Toto, if we could come to you now. Could we start just by talking about FP1? It looked like you got a good number of laps with both cars. Just give us your summary of work done so far at Albert Park.
Toto WOLFF: We are certainly not in the magnitude of problems that Adrian has, but it was a difficult birth today also for us, but not unexpected, I guess, when you start with new regulations. We weren’t in such a good place on the chassis side, power unit side, but all things that are surmountable. Quite some interesting, exciting challenges to overcome for FP2 and the rest of the weekend, but I would say we are where we are and that’s going to be alright.
Q: You are where you are, but George had a quiet confidence about him when he was in this room yesterday. Given everything you’ve just said about FP1, how confident are you for the rest of the weekend here in Melbourne?
TW: As I’ve said before, in 15 years or so I have never been confident. Even if we started the season magnificently, I’ve never been confident enough to say that we are going to be faster, we’re going to be on the podium at the end of the race weekend. That is no different to this year. I’m not going to say that because simply we don’t know. We had a challenging FP1 but not out of the ordinary, so we’ve just got to put the work in step by step, do it calmly, and then hopefully be fast enough to fight for a podium or a win on Sunday, but it’s not a given.
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QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sport F1) Toto, after Kimi’s engine problem in Bahrain, are you worried about reliability preventing you from pushing to the limits now?
TW: Reliability is always an issue, particularly with new cars and new power units. They say, “In order to finish first, first you have to finish,” and I guess that’s going to be the motto for this first couple of Grands Prix, to see where our limitations are, where our reliability worries are on either component or on any component in the car. So no, not particularly worried about one reliability issue related to the engine, but it’s more the overall car concept.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) For all three of you, you’re obviously all here to look after the interests of your own teams, but looking at the bigger picture, do you have any concerns about the kind of show we’re going to see on Sunday afternoon, especially in terms of how the public perceives it, whether they understand it or enjoy it? And do you see one possible scenario that it’s so chaotic that it’s actually entertaining?
TW: I think there’s more than 500,000 spectators predicted for this weekend. The enthusiasm is great and everybody’s happy to see the cars and the drivers out there. Certainly, like it is with all new regulations, it’s going to be different in a certain way. Like you say, some cars are going to struggle, others not. We maybe may see the odd surprise. So, I’m not worried at all. That’s not the word that would come into my mind when looking at the overall entertainment factor and show and sport that we’re going to see Saturday and Sunday.
Q: (Issy Coghill – 4ZZZ) This one is a technical question. My question is for Adrian Newey and by extension Toto Wolff. Adrian, if the choice was yours to make for the AMR26 power unit, would you have preferred Mercedes power? And if so, Toto, would you have been happy for Aston Martin to retain supply of your power units?
TW: I like the formal way you ask the questions, by the way. Aston Martin was a client and a partner of Mercedes over those many years, and we still deliver engines and other components to the road car side, so that wasn’t a Mercedes decision to not go with Aston Martin. I think it was a conscious decision to become a works team, with Honda, with their partner Aramco, and that’s why we had to let them go.
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) Toto, everyone else has installed you as clear favourites coming into this weekend. We’ve talked of a difficult birth and some challenges. Are these challenges that can be overcome in two practice sessions, or do you feel you’re slightly on the back foot compared to everyone else’s expectations and you aren’t the favourites at the moment?
TW: Yeah, they can be overcome because we’ve seen if we want today, it was much more challenging than the Bahrain test, for example. So, it’s not inherent problems that we have in the hardware. Some of the software, it’s just teething problems. Now, having said that, I’ve always stated that I think Red Bull and Ferrari are very fast, and people try to continue to talk us up, and that’s flattering, but I’m not sure it’s 100% the reality, and certainly not what we have seen in FP1.
Q: (Kieran Jackson – The Independent) A question for Toto, please. F1 is scheduled to race in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month. Obviously, given the situation in the Middle East, what does your hunch say about whether we will be racing in those countries next month? And is there a deadline for the teams and for the sport in terms of logistics, et cetera, to make a decision?
TW: First of all, Formula 1 in a way becomes the second priority. It’s such an important topic in the region that it’s even quite difficult, I guess, to talk to the local leaders and say: “What about the Grand Prix?” I think this is up to Stefano as a promoter and the FIA to manage that situation while respecting the current challenges that they have. My hunch is I would very much hope we race. Is it realistic that we race there at the moment? I’m not quite sure. But again, I leave it to Stefano to manage that situation. I hope generally it gets better there so we are able to come back as soon as possible.
Source: FIA.com
