After three years of heading a team that totally dominated Formula 1, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff admits that losing to Ferrari in two of the three races so far this season has been a bitter pill to swallow.
Speaking about the state of play, Wolff told Racer, “Losing feels much worse than winning feels great – unfortunately that is at the moment it feels really wrong. Bouncing back and winning feels even better, and we have enjoyed winning in China, a lot, and in hindsight it’s a good motivation as well.”
“And probably for Formula 1 it’s good as well if there’s a fight between Ferrari and Mercedes, so we have to see it like sportsmen – we have a fight that’s on and that is how it is, even though it feels sh*t right now!”
“It’s a different situation. In the last three years we had an internal fight – of course you set your mindset in that direction – and this is a new situation which I’m sure the team will handle well.”
“I’m seeing positives [with the] change of regulations, and we’re in the fight for race wins and we’re in the fight for the titles at the moment, you can say that, but I think there’s just generally good news.”
Despite Ferrari taking the fight to them, Wolff insists that the relationship with the Reds is healthy, “[The relationship] doesn’t change. We’re getting on well with Ferrari, there’s great respect between the two teams and between the two brands. I’m getting along with [Sergio] Marchionne very well as well as [Maurizio] Arrivabene and [Mattia] Binotto.”
“It doesn’t change anything, we have great respect for the humans, and they’ve done a good job which we have to admit. I’d rather have our mindset or philosophy similar to what you have in rugby – it’s hard, fierce competitors, and trying to beat each other but we are able to drink a beer afterwards,” added the Mercedes boss.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
No comments:
Post a Comment