Mercedes, a bittersweet 2024 Formula 1 season
After a 2022 and 2023 to forget, in which they won only one race, Mercedes managed to record a decent haul of 4 victories in the recently concluded season, evenly split between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. However, the Anglo-German team lost two positions in the Constructors’ Championship over the course of a year, dropping from second to fourth, despite increasing their points tally from 409 to 468.
The end-of-year own goal
In a long interview with the Germans at Auto, Motor und Sport, Toto Wolff revealed a backstory from last season: “At the end of the year, we had to give up some aerodynamic and mechanical updates because we simply no longer had the funds to produce the necessary parts.”
The reason that pushed Mercedes to the limit of their budget is quickly explained: “The end-of-season accidents were really frustrating. Those of Kimi Antonelli at Monza and George Russell in Austin and Mexico at one point left us with only one set of a certain type of wing. In Mexico, we couldn’t revert to the old aerodynamic specifications because we didn’t have spare parts.” However, Wolff does not intend to question the budget cap: “I support it because it has made teams wealthier and the sport sustainable.” – the Mercedes team principal concluded.
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