Wolff reveals why Mercedes has improved compared to last seasons
On the back of Mercedes' best start to a season since the introduction of the ground-effect cars, the Woking-based's outfit's team boss Toto Wolff has stressed that the W16 is a car that is much easier to set up which has contributed to the improved form.
Although Mercedes displayed encouraging one-lap pace in both the sprint and the main qualifying session at last weekend's Miami Grand Prix, the Brackley-based outfit struggled for race pace on Sunday.
Although Andrea Kimi Antonelli was running in second early on, he was powerless to hold the faster McLarens at bay. The Italian then lost time during a slow pit stop before he lost further race time compared to his team-mate George Russell, who could shorten the duration of his own pit stop thanks to a virtual safety car interruption. Antonelli ended up sixth behind the Williams of Alexander Albon.
Russell looked to struggle for grip during the opening stint on the hards, but he benefitted from a cheap stop during the VSC. The Briton rejoined the track just ahead of Verstappen, and managed to stay in front of the Dutchman to pick up yet another podium.
Following the first quarter of the season, Mercedes currently find themselves second in the teams' standings, having completed their best start to the season since the introduction of the ground-effect cars. In the drivers' championship, Russell is fourth, having failed to finish lower than fifth so far in 2025.
The German-British team has now announced that there will be clearly visible upgrades to the car in the next races, hoping that further upgrades can propel the car forward.
Asked whether he has been delighted with his outfit's performance in the first quarter of the season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: "Yeah, probably. Because when you… you know, we had a little bit of swings of performance and then maybe one or the other race the Ferraris came back at us and he was great in defending.
"So it is pretty close, but still, it's not really satisfying because you have McLaren out there that are able to manage their tyres so well. And then it's the three teams that are fighting with each other – one race you get it right, the other one not. And yeah, certainly trying to figure out what it is and playing catch up.
Pushed on to reveal why Mercedes has endured a much more promising start to the season than in the last three years, Wolff has conceded that the W16 is much easier to set up compared to its predecessors.
"The car is much easier to set up. At least you put more flap in and the car does what you expect it to do, which in previous years wasn't the case.
"And it's more predictable, but the underlying issue obviously is keeping the tyre temperatures in the window, and that's something we just haven't found a way of doing really well.
Asked whether Mercedes is set to develop its W16 quite deep into the season despite the all-new technical rules that will arrive in 2026, Wolff noted that "I think every team will have their little secrets. And it's also a bit of a moving target. All of us have transitioned certain groups within the aero department or larger groups in the design office that are only looking at next year's car, obviously.
"And the performance slope is very steep. You’re adding lots of downforce in because it's the early days, and that's going to flatten. But if a team has started doing it one and a half months earlier in terms of transitioning resource, that can be a big advantage next year."
