Mercedes F1 boss Wolff: Renault will make 'biggest step' in 2018
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes rival Renault will make the biggest step of any Formula 1 team in 2018
On the back of the major investment Renault has made to its F1 project since it took over Lotus at the end of 2015, Wolff singled out the manufacturer as the outfit most likely to make the biggest jump in performance.
Renault ended the 2017 season with the fourth fastest car on pure pace, and will field Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr this year.
Assessing the 2018 F1 field, Wolff told Autosport: "Force India? There the duel between [Sergio] Perez against [Esteban] Ocon becomes entertaining.
"Both want to distinguish themselves for bigger things in 2019 - so this season is essential for both.
"Williams has a bold design, so I'm curious to see how it works.
"[Sergey] Sirotkin has little experience, but his speed can make up for it. [Lance] Stroll must be a team leader at 19 in his second year [of F1].
"But Renault will make the biggest step forward for me.
"It will use all its resources, and has ambitious drivers with Hulkenberg and Sainz."
Wolff also suggested that Toro Rosso - which has switched to Honda engines for 2018 - could produce "surprises" and that Sauber should be taken seriously and that its tie-up with Alfa Romeo was "more than just a marketing gimmick".
Ferrari provided Mercedes with its sternest challenge yet during the V6 turbo hybrid era last season, and Wolff expects Ferrari - led by Sebastian Vettel - to offer a similar headache in 2018, while also tipping Red Bull to provide strong competition.
"Ferrari made a giant leap from 2016 to 2017," he added. "The car will be fast again this year, and Sebastian [Vettel] as leader is strong and confident.
"Red Bull has a great combination of drivers: a sunny boy [Daniel Ricciardo] who can drive really well and a giant talent [Max Verstappen] who polarises, opens and lifts F1. The pairing for sure is top.
"Plus, in the second half of 2017, the team put forward a development like no other. If Red Bull remains friendly with Renault it will be a tough opponent."
Bottas decision likely in summer
Wolff's praise of Red Bull's driver line-up comes at a time when Ricciardo is a candidate to take a Mercedes seat in 2019 if the team elects to replace Valtteri Bottas.
Speaking about the potential driver line-up for next year, Wolff said: "We will look at how he [Bottas] is developing this year and will decide from the summer on.
"For Lewis, an extension is just a matter of detail. I assume that we will continue together."
Valtteri Bottas: Mind games with Lewis Hamilton a waste of energy
F1 testing: Fernando Alonso sets sole lap time of snow-wrecked day
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
Aston Martin's radical F1 rear wing return dictated by cost cap
Aston Martin says the return of the radical rear wing solution it introduced at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix will be dictated by cost cap considerations.
Hamilton's F1 commitment never wavered as Wolff dismissed sounding out rivals
Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton’s commitment to Mercedes never wavered despite its early-season struggles, meaning he gave no consideration to sounding out other Formula 1 drivers about a drive.
Could late rule changes to F1 2023 floors aid bigger teams?
The FIA World Motor Sport Council finally pushed through rule changes to address porpoising for the 2023 Formula 1 season, amid suggestions the late alterations will help bigger teams.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid's wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs - most notably at McLaren - look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior