“Next year we are back” - Wolff fires warning to Red Bull for 2023
Mercedes endured a difficult end to their 2022 campaign at the season-ending F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as George Russell finished fifth, while Lewis Hamilton retired from the race late on with a mechanical issue.
It caps off an underwhelming year for F1’s dominant force in recent seasons, with third in the constructors’ championship their worst finish since 2012.
Even though Mercedes struggled for much of the season, they did take a 1-2 finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last weekend.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Wolff reflected on the season as a whole.
“First of all, we're gonna put these cars in reception at Braxley and in Brixworth to remind us every single day how difficult it can be,” Wolff said. “But thank you everyone, this is a character-building season.
“Not a blip for a race but a full season. You keep pushing so hard, the engine came along really well and I'm proud of what we achieved there. On the chassis side there were more bad moments than good ones but the good ones were spectacular like a week ago.
“It made us feel how good it can be and now we're just pushing forward for next year. It's raw, it's bad and it's okay to feel like this but next year we are back."
Wolff admitted Mercedes’ poor display in Abu Dhabi was a “precise summary of the season”.
“That was really not good,” he added. “All the mistakes you can make. A car that was not at the pace it should have been. Third-quickest today. One breaking down and one running out of tyres. A precise summary of the season
“We cooked the tyres in the first few laps, we attacked strong, the team seemed to be really good but the front-right just gave up. Maybe that’s something we should have predicted.
“We knew that Abu Dhabi was going to be a difficult one for the car, certainly if the correlation is good. Certainly, Brazil was spectacular, dominating from the beginning to the end with a 1-2. At least we ticked the box with the race win.”
