Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff certainly had reason to celebrate after the Canadian Grand Prix, thanks to his team’s first double podium of the season. Two weeks later, the Austrian’s home race is already on the schedule. The team boss does not expect his team to easily repeat the Canadian feat in Spielberg. According to Wolff, Mercedes’ rivals will be much more competitive during the Grand Prix weekend in Austria.
A double podium for Mercedes. It was the first time this season that the German racing team achieved this in Canada. Mercedes was thus able to score important World Championship points and even overtook Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. However, Toto Wolff does not think it will be smooth sailing for his racing team from now on.
“Although we have made progress with our car in recent weeks, we do not expect this level of performance every weekend,” Wolff explains in his preview of the Austrian Grand Prix. “The lack of fast corners and asphalt that puts less strain on the tyres, as in Canada, perfectly suits our car. We know that our rivals will probably be much more competitive this weekend in Austria.”
McLaren, in particular, had a rare off weekend in Canada. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris even encountered each other on the track in the closing stages of the race, with Norris coming off worse. The Brit crashed into the back of Piastri’s MCL39, and as a result, could not finish his race. The Australian still finished fourth.
Maintaining Momentum
Wolff, therefore, does not dare to claim that Mercedes can repeat the Canadian trick in Austria, and instead focuses his team on maintaining momentum. “The Spielberg circuit will be a good test for our recent updates and give us a reference for our progress,” the team boss continues. “There is still a long way to go this season. We will try to score points as often as possible and hopefully, we can soon compete for podium places again.”
