Mercedes head to Miami adamant to learn from their mistakes in Baku where they failed to dial in their W14 properly, according to team boss Toto Wolff.
The fact remains that Mercedes will not be making any breakthroughs with their performance in the 2023 Formula 1 season until they unleash their major upgrades at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola later this month, as until then, the best the team could do is simply try and control the damage.
Toto Wolff discussed the upcoming Miami Grand Prix, just one week after the one in Azerbaijan, and said in Mercedes‘ race preview: “From the streets of Baku to the streets of Miami. We’re looking forward to being back on track so quickly after an interesting, but challenging, weekend in Baku.
“The new sprint format threw up some surprises and we now need to evaluate the merits of it, and if there are any tweaks necessary,” he added.
Mercedes finished Sunday’s Grand Prix in Baku sixth and eighth with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell respectively, their Sprint Race results slight better Russell fourth, and Hamilton seventh.
Mercedes didn’t get the setup right in Baku
Wolff reflected: “Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get our car in the right set-up window during practice. That made the rest of the weekend more difficult. Our race pace looked competitive against the Ferraris and Aston Martins, but with overtaking so tricky, we couldn’t put this to the test.
“That’s about where our car is right now but we also know small differences can have a big impact weekend by weekend,” he pointed out.
“We’re excited therefore to get to Miami and get back on track,” the Austrian went on. “We’ll be using the few days in between to extract as many learnings as we can and put ourselves in the best possible position.
“It’s a circuit that is a different beast compared to the last few races. There’s a real mix of corners, with some high-speed sections, long straights but also tight, twisty portions.
“It’s also going to be a busy weekend with plenty of off-track activities and events for the team and our partners. There was an incredible buzz last year and I have no doubts it will be another spectacular event this year,” Wolff concluded.