© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Toto Wolff says, in Mercedes’ current battle with Red Bull, the team actually feels less pressure than they did when they were fighting Ferrari.
In 2021 Mercedes is facing one of the closes title battles it has faced since 2014. However, Toto Wolff says being on the back foot actually takes the pressure off of the team.
“It eased off actually, because all these years we had the pressure of: we can’t possibly lose,” the Austrian told Motorsport.
“Now it changed to: this is ours to win, because the odds were against us. So there is suddenly an easiness in the approach that starts to take over, which makes it quite enjoyable.
“Your expectations change. There is no sense of entitlement. This is what we’ve seen in other sports teams when the expectations are set so high that it becomes even unacceptable to lose.
“And I think with us, we conditioned ourselves. We set the expectations realistically, and we have just enjoyed the journey of getting us back in a position where we would be able to fight.”
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Wolff goes on to explain how Mercedes’ title battles with Ferrari in 2017, 2018 and to an extent 2019, actually felt “more intense”.
“The Ferrari years felt more intense, because I think at that stage, we were so keen in proving that we weren’t a one-hit wonder.
“We wanted to really create a legacy of being the top team for a few years, and now we’ve achieved that.
“We have won seven times in a row, which wasn’t done in any other sport on a world championship level. With that, suddenly, that easiness came into play.
“We are still very ambitious and competitive. But the anxiety of losing has lost its edge. We still hate it, but it is less detrimental to your own well-being,” concluded Mercedes’ team boss.
