Wolff shares early driver feedback about W15: “For the first time in two years…”

Wolff revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that Mercedes’ development driver Anthony Davidson was positive about the W15 after driving it for the first time in the simulator. 

And Davidson’s initial report will be music to the ears of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in Mercedes’ quest to close the gap to reigning world champions Red Bull.

Speaking of Davidson’s simulator outing, Wolff said: “He was driving Melbourne [in the sim]. 

“And he said: ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years…’”

However, Wolff remains cautious about the assessment, given Mercedes had been confident about their prospects prior to both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, only to endure difficult and hugely disappointing campaigns. 

“Obviously I would love this to correlate to the track, but we’ve seen in the last two years that this was not always the case,” Wolff added. 

The W15 will be launched on 14 February at Silverstone.

In the same interview, Wolff revealed he has penned a new three-year deal to remain team principal at Mercedes. 

"I think the most important thing between the three of us [Mercedes owners] is that we trust each other. At the end of the day, as a shareholder myself, I want the best return on investment,” he said.

"And the best return on investment is winning. I’m not going to try to hang on to a position that I think somebody is going to do better than me. I make sure that I have people around who can tell me otherwise. In the end, the three of us decided: ‘Let’s do it again’."