Toto Wolff believes COTA was a “step forward” for Mercedes after a strong finish from Hamilton

Toto Wolff felt that the United States Grand Prix was a much-needed step forward for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team after the seven-time world Champion Lewis Hamilton narrowly missed out on a first race victory of the season as he came home in the second position, with team-mate George Russell recovering from an unfortunate race start and securing the fifth position.

The win was in sight for Mercedes driver Hamilton after a problematic eleven-second pit-stop cost Max Verstappen the lead of the race, allowing Lewis to take the lead during laps forty-one to forty-nine. After introducing the final upgrade of the season, hopes for a race win were high amongst the team as Hamilton’s performance showed that Mercedes are still offering an exciting and competitive car this season.

Team Principal Toto Wolff, was pleased with Hamilton’s performance and felt that the team have made considerable progress at the Circuit of the Americas, where Oracle Red Bull Racing clinched the Constructor’s World Championship, following Verstappen’s comeback win.

“First, congratulations to Red Bull and to Honda for winning the Constructors’ Championship; given the sad news yesterday about Dietrich Mateschitz, it was fitting that they should secure the title today. From our side, this weekend was a step forward for us and we showed encouraging performance.

“No doubt, Red Bull are still ahead of us, but I think we’re getting closer to them and Ferrari – and that’s a positive outcome for us. We brought an upgrade to Austin and we’ve seen that reflected in terms of car performance.“

Addressing the unfortunate collision between Russell and Carlos Sainz Jr., Toto Wolff has high hopes for Mexico and says the team will be prepared for any unexpected obstacles.

“Obviously, an unfortunate start for George, colliding with Carlos, which I would classify as a racing incident,” he said.

“Lewis had a strong race today and was giving it everything. He had a tyre deficit on the Hard because he simply didn’t have any Mediums to choose and still holding on to a potential win felt feasible at that stage, but once Max was past Charles and he couldn’t fight back, it was just a matter of time.

“Next up is Mexico, which we’re looking forward to and hopefully can continue to show our performance. On paper, this should be a track that suits our car, but as we’ve learned this season, it can be a bit unpredictable where we actually stand in reality.”

Credit: Jiri Krenek