Toto Wolff drops Mercedes ‘new staff coming’ hint along with fresh W15 upgrades

Mercedes principal Toto Wolff is hopeful that his team “can continue this positive trajectory” after their Canadian GP breakthrough, with “new staff” and “new parts” set to help the cause.

While Red Bull started out F1 2024 as once again the dominant team, rivals are threatening to complicate their run to the titles, with Mercedes sending a warning shot via their performance at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Toto Wolff on Mercedes ‘new staff’ and Spanish GP upgrades

After introducing a new front wing in Monaco, Mercedes impressed at the Canadian GP which followed, George Russell contending for victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as he ultimately finished P3 with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking the win.

And speaking to media after the race, Wolff was asked whether this serves as the turning point for Mercedes, the team having been searching for the answers to mounting a fresh title challenge since the F1 ground effect era came to be in 2022.

Wolff would speak positively on the “trajectory” which Mercedes has been on since Imola, seeing performance added to the W15 at each race weekend and with further upgrades coming for the Spanish Grand Prix, while some new recruits are on the way, Wolff hopes this should help continue the momentum.

“I think definitely since Imola we have taken the right steps and put parts on the car that were working,” said Wolff.

“That is something that we were struggling [with] in the past couple of years. And now directionally, we seem to be adding performance every weekend.

“And with new staff coming, also new parts coming in Barcelona, that should help us.

“So I would very much hope that we can continue this positive trajectory.”

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Wolff admitted to being cautious over getting too “carried away”, though ultimately, the “stopwatch” will be the judge of whether Mercedes truly have now found the correct path.

“I am always a bit worried, you know, when you get carried away,” he said, “that everything seems to be now falling into place.

“Because this is a difficult sport and we’ve had this positive trajectory now since the last three races and everything seems to be making much more sense. So you know, the stopwatch will tell us.”

Russell’s P3 in Canada was Mercedes’ first podium of the season, as they set about tackling an 88-point gap to McLaren, who sit P3 and a position ahead in the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship standings.

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