The philosophical and practical difficulties facing Mercedes in its design concept shift
Straight after qualifying for the first grand prix of the year, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made a staggering admission: his team needed a complete change of car concept to return to winning ways. But what does this actually mean? GP Racing tech columnist PAT SYMONDS has over 40 years’ experience in engineering Formula 1 cars, including several championship winners, and well knows what it’s like to realise when an idea isn’t working…
In my time as chief technical officer at Williams I had the chance to engage with Toto Wolff on a regular professional basis. I really respected his management ability: he knew when to use the carrot and when to use the stick.
At this time, while still a shareholder at Williams, he had relinquished any close role to avoid conflicts of interest with his new role at Mercedes. My relationship with him, therefore, was as a customer for the power unit. I perhaps saw more of the carrot than the stick, although there were times when the string that the carrot dangled from was visibly shortened when our team challenged his. My colleagues at Williams, however, were only too aware of his ability to wield the stick since Williams had been singularly unsuccessful in the years up to 2014, and Toto was forthright in his criticism of certain aspects of the operation.
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