After tasting victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix in the penultimate race of the season, Mercedes principal Toto Wolff expects his drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to be hungry for more next term.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has become used to winning races having won at least one grand prix in each of his 15 seasons in F1 prior to this year. However, Mercedes found their car short of pace this season and Hamilton struggled to keep up with runaway world champion Max Verstappen.
But their horrid run came to an end when Russell won the Brazil GP leading a one-two for Mercedes. Wolff hopes the win reminded both drivers what victory feels like and has vowed 'next year we are back'.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Mercedes chief said he was proud at how the team turned their terrible season around. He said: “Not a blip for a race but a full season. You keep pushing so hard, the engine came along really well and I'm proud of what we achieved there.
"On the chassis side there were more bad moments than good ones but the good ones were spectacular like a week ago (Brazilian GP). It made us feel how good it can be and now we're just pushing forward for next year. It's raw, it's bad and it's okay to feel like this but next year we are back.
"Certainly, Brazil was spectacular, dominating from the beginning to the end with a 1-2. At least we ticked the box with the race win.”
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However, a week after celebrating success in Brazil the Mercedes team were sent a stark reminder of the work required to catch Red Bull and Verstappen. The Dutch world champion sauntered to his 15th win of the season while Hamilton abandoned with hydraulics issues and Russell finished fifth.
“That was really not good,” Wolff added. “All the mistakes you can make. A car that was not at the pace it should have been. Third-quickest today. One breaking down and one running out of tyres. A precise summary of the season.
“We cooked the tyres in the first few laps, we attacked strong, the team seemed to be really good but the front-right just gave up. Maybe that’s something we should have predicted."
