Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff finds it hard to cope with the dominance held by their arch nemesis Red Bull and their World Champion driver Max Verstappen. After the long-lasting superiority of the Silver Arrows team lasted nearly a decade as their oldest driver, Lewis Hamilton won seven astounding championships, leveling up to the legendary driver, Michael Schumacher.
But ever since the infamous Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021, there has been a downfall in the quality of performance for Mercedes.
After accusing the Austrian outfit of holding a bias between their two drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez McLaren driver Lando Norris came to the rescue, Wolff has made another major statement against the team.
He said, “I wouldn’t be in this sport if I didn’t feel I could beat Red Bull before 2026.” Toto added, “The biggest problem is that the drivers don’t have confidence in the W14, in alternate phases on top of that.”
#F1: Toto Wolff: “I wouldn’t be in this sport if I didn’t feel I could beat Red Bull before 2026.”
“If you think about how much Aston Martin grew in the winter and the leap forward made by McLaren during the summer, if we were able to find 3 or 4 tenths we would be back in the…
— deni (@fiagirly) October 11, 2023
The latest Qatar Grand Prix was a disaster for them yet again. During the race, George Russell started at P2 and was chasing Verstappen who was right ahead. In the meanwhile, Hamilton, who was behind Russell, made an attempt to overtake both the drivers at a go. This risky move led to the collision of the Mercedes cars right at the very first turn. However, the 38-year-old driver took complete responsibility for this incident.
Former F1 team principal has a bias for Lewis Hamilton over Max Verstappen
The Dutch driver has recently clinched his third championship victory on the Saturday Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix, an achievement that comes by quite rarely which he shares with his father-in-law Nelson Piquet.
This season will go down in history as one of the thrilling ones as Red Bull maintained their dominance throughout it. As spectators are listing down their expectations of Verstappen and in what ways he is better than Lewis Hamilton, Eddie Jordan thinks otherwise.
Max Verstappen has won THREE World Championships since Lewis Hamilton last won a race in F1 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wJhZ1pENWO
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) October 7, 2023
Eddie, who owned the Jordan Grand Prix F1 team that competed between 1991 to 2005, seems to hold a bias. When asked to choose between these two brilliant drivers, he said “Well, in my opinion, I’m a little bit biased towards the old guys.”
Eddie Jordan further stated, “I just think Verstappen has had it quite easy coming through. I know the family growing up, whereas it was never easy for Lewis. We know there was a color issue and his father [Anthony Hamilton] had three jobs to bring him through to it.”
Despite this favoritism, the former F1 team boss appreciated Verstappen’s efforts. He believes that the Dutchman has an upper hand over the trends of the sport and can “push it over 10 [ world titles ], no question.” As per the reports and what his current contract states, Max Verstappen will be a part of Red Bull until 2028.