As its roller-coaster season continues, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that his team cannot continue relying on positive signs at certain events.

One minute it's the worst ever, next minute it's among the best, but that is no way to effectively manage a world championship campaign, not when you're up against McLaren and Ferrari, not to mention Red Bull.

While Mercedes has had some strong performances this season, Wolff admits that the team must raise its game rather than kidding itself that those (rare) positive weekends denote that it has turned the corner.

"Not satisfied at all," he told Servus TV when asked his reaction to Sunday's race. "Maybe a small highlight with second place in the Sprint race, but the performance is not there.

"We can keep telling ourselves that there were bright spots at the weekend," he added, "but we have to take a step.

"We'll bring a bit of something to Miami, where hopefully we can expect something, but today you're just behind the Ferraris and behind Norris... it's just not good enough."

While the W15 showed improved pace at Suzuka, the feeling is that the changes made to the car subsequently compromised its performance at Shanghai.

"I think we absolutely achieved that," he said, "in the high speed we were super competitive, also in Suzuka through the Esses, it was day and night compared to what we had before. The drivers were speaking about it as the best car they had in the last two-and-a-half years. But then we really didn't perform in the low speeds.

"So you gain half-a-second in the high speed, but you lose half a second in the low speed, the equation is back to zero, so that is something we need to improve," he admitted.

"We are beyond the point of understanding, we just need to improve now. That is what it needs to hop to, and we have all the facts on the table. We know what we tweaked in order to solve the high-speed, and we know where the car was before to be quick in the low-speed. Now we just need to bolt the car together that does both of them."

Despite the fluctuations in performance, Wolff believes that basically the W15 is a good car, unlike its predecessors. Indeed, he believes the first half of the (2023) season performance from McLaren, and even Ferrari, tended to flatter the W14.

"The advantage we had was McLaren was not racing us for the first half of the season, so they weren't a competitor. Ferrari wasn't as quick and dropped the ball on several occasions and that's why we were a podium contender and closest to Red Bull. Now those teams have picked up their performance levels.

"This is a relative game and suddenly, what was good enough for third last year is now only good enough for sixth. That's why it's tough. The car is as difficult as it has been in the past, tricky for the drivers.

George, when we discussed it, said it was the trickiest qualifying car he has had so far. So overall, in a way, the same symptoms.

"It is a difficult car, a difficult car to set-up and a difficult car to drive, and that's why you have these oscillations in performances, in my opinion. I think where Lewis' car was certainly far away from the optimal, it's just driving on the knife's edge.

"So what is it? This is this is where we are. Let's say for Miami, we are bringing some new bits which is interesting to see how they're going to perform on the car."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 25/04/2024 10:39

"It's now patently obvious through 2 generations at least, that by limiting testing you effectively turn the championship into a sort of lottery where whoever designs the best car in year one is going to keep winning for most of that generation's lifetime.
When, as is the case at present, the formula is aero-limited, with testing limits, CFD & aero limits & a budget cap, the chances of anybody catching up with a car that starts out *much* faster is effectively zero.

Mercedes were the beneficiaries of the PU-limited start of the hybrid era & are now victims of one based on aero. It's notable that although Mercedes "dominated" others often managed to take the fight to them - PU development was less shackled by regulation than aero currently is.

The simple truth is that barring accidents, RBR win easily win every championship through 'til 2026 & Verstappen will be an apprentice GOAT. Looking at proposals for 2026 the biggest glimmer of hope for Mercedes is the PU format & RBR's desire to roll their own. Mercedes cracked the initial hybrid era & might do so again, though RBR still has Newey & his cras will be fast & slippery...."

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2. Posted by RP, 24/04/2024 16:54

"AS menitoned, so much of the "boring" races are due to the lack of testing allowed. In the past, even with regulations that lasted a few years, the field got closer together over time (as they do now) but there were improvements made during the season that kept competition alive and interesting.
Looking at an on track "battle" for 14th place really doesn't do much. But, when nothing much is changing at the front, that's all you have. It is, and should continue to be, interesting to see LeClerc and Sainz since Sainz has a tremendous incentive to finish ahead of his much higher paid teammate. "

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3. Posted by Tyrbiter, 24/04/2024 11:00

"I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek with my comment. I'm not at all a fan of the limited running regime and restricted CFD and wind-tunnel time that is applied, I really loathe the budget cap although I can see why it's felt to be necessary. As in the case with Williams it's a double-edged sword, it prevents both getting ahead and catching up and it doesn't allow for differences in the quality of your engineering staff."

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4. Posted by Chester, 24/04/2024 10:05

"@Tyrbiter, it appears to me they are truly lost in the woods in understanding aerodynamics on their car. And that is compounded by not having unlimited testing. If they did have unlimited testing they could discover the McLaren fabled oil cooler type-fixes by changing one thing at a time- a luxury just not available.
"

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5. Posted by Tyrbiter, 23/04/2024 16:31

"They need to take a leaf out of the McLaren M23 book and move the oil coolers half an inch."

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Mercedes cannot depend on season's "bright spots", insists Wolff

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