Are Mercedes actually improving? W14 “still a handful”

Mercedes introduced a revised front wing for the British Grand Prix earlier this month, while they have been bringing regular upgrades to their car during the European run of races.

Despite this, Mercedes slipped behind McLaren in the pecking order at Silverstone, while Ferrari were quicker than them in Austria.

The Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend poses a different challenge, with its tight and twisty nature aiding cars that perform better at low-speed.

Mercedes’ level of competitiveness is still unclear given that they struggled, relative to the opposition, in a range of cornering speeds.

Speaking after the British GP, Wolff wasn’t too complimentary about this year’s W14.

“I think overall the car was not where we’ve seen it at Silverstone the last few years,” he said. “That was the track where we were really dominant and strong and the high-speed was not good at all, compared to our competitors in qualifying we were also struggling with traction on the exits. 

“Overall, the car remains to be a handful.”

Wolff believes the fight for P2 will continue to swing back and forth depending on the track and upgrades.

“Whoever has performances that are track-specific, or due to an upgrade, they are able to just stay there at least,” he added. “Now we have the resurgence of McLaren, who were not competitive at the beginning of the year and that’s good to see. 

“Because that means if you are taking the right decisions your car can jump up by a huge amount. On the other side, I don’t know what happened to Aston Martin and Ferrari, they made a step backwards. But overall, I think this result is no more than solid.”