Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team's Toto Wolff Expected to Return for Qatar GP
Key Highlights :
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is expecting to have their team principal Toto Wolff back for the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix. The 51-year-old Austrian is set to have an operation in his native country to restore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg. Wolff had damaged his knee a few years ago and blamed it for a cycling accident during Formula One's summer break which left him with a fractured elbow.
In the meantime, Wolff's role will be divided between the team's staff including driver development director Jerome D'Ambrosio, the Belgian who took part in 20 F1 races in 2010 and 2011, and Mercedes' long-serving British chief communications officer Bradley Lord. It is understood that Wolff will still be on the team's intercom across the weekend.
The team will head to Suzuka perhaps fearing that their best shot at victory this year may have escaped them following Carlos Sainz's triumph at the Singapore Grand Prix. Ferrari's Sainz became the first non-Red Bull driver to win this season – ending the world champions' unbeaten streak and Max Verstappen's record run of 10 consecutive victories. Lewis Hamilton finished third, just 1.2 seconds behind Sainz, after George Russell – who at one point looked likely to win following Mercedes' roll of the strategy dice – crashed out on the final lap.
Verstappen qualified 11th and finished fifth, 21 seconds adrift of Sainz. But Hamilton fears Red Bull's lack of speed on the streets of Singapore is because they have already turned their attention to next season. While Verstappen can now not be crowned champion of the world for a third time in Japan, it is possible he could clinch the title in Qatar on October 8 with five rounds still left.
Hamilton said: “If you think about it, they probably haven’t been developing their car. McLaren brought an upgrade here. Other teams are still bringing upgrades, and they’re working on next year’s car. They would have definitely migrated to 2024 before us.”
Verstappen, who warned in the build-up to Sunday’s city-state race that the high-downforce street track would not suit Red Bull, said he expects to be back on top in Suzuka. Wolff, who is likely to return for the Qatar GP, added: “They will be strong again. The track in Singapore was an outlier for us when we were dominant and I have no doubt they will be strong on conventional race tracks.”
With the return of Toto Wolff, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team will be hoping to get back on top and clinch the title in the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix. It would be interesting to see how the team will perform with the return of their team principal and the new strategies they will come up with.
