Mercedes targets championship fight in 2025, says Wolff
Having shown off their new car for the upcoming season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff expects the close fight to continue at the sharp end of the field, but he hopes the Brackley-based outfit will be able to challenge for the championships.
Mercedes have become the latest team to pull the cover off their 2025 F1 car, the W16 that will be piloted by George Russell and 18-year-old Italian racer, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes have already revealed their livery for the upcoming 2025 F1 season, but they elected to show off their new challenger ahead of its on-track debut at the Bahrain International Circuit, just two days before the start of pre-season testing.
Speaking of the upcoming season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insists that he expects a close competition at the sharp end of the field in the fourth season of the current technical era.
“It is going to be a highly competitive season. We saw last year just how close the field was. You couldn’t say race-to-race who would be at the front, and I expect this year to be even closer.
"We will have to be at our very best if we want to challenge for championships this season," concluded the Austrian.
Mercedes' technical director James Allison echoed Wolff's words, claiming that he expects multiple winners due to the convergence of performance at the sharp end of the field.
“It will be a fiercely fought championship from the off. At this stage of the regulations, the cars are converging in terms of performance. There will be multiple winners, and it’s possible that we will see even more teams than the four that scored victories last year taking to the top step of the podium.”
Although the power unit development remains frozen, Hywel Thomas, who works as Managing Director at Mercedes' powertrain department, claims that this doesn’t mean that work stops.
“Given where we are in this set of regulations, lap time gains are small. There is still the opportunity to find little bits and that can be the difference come Saturday and Sunday. You could see last year, particularly in qualifying, just how close some of the teams were at the front.
“Finding those 10 or 20 milliseconds is crucial; it can be the difference between pole or the second or third row. We will continue chasing those gains and hopefully be in the fight for the championships come Abu Dhabi.”
