After the first practice at the Red Bull Ring, Mercedes team leader Toto Wolff commented on the results, as well as some of the decisions of today’s Formula 1 committee meeting.
Q: Your riders showed 3rd and 5th results in training – what would you say to this?
Toto Wolff: I think the wind is stronger than usual in Spielberg today, and quite chilly – personally I’m a bit cold. Overall we’re doing fine, we’ve experimented with the settings, but you also have to keep in mind that this is a very short circle and the difference of one tenth here should perhaps be compared to two tenths on other tracks.
Q: It seems George is a little more pleased with his car than Lewis?
Toto Wolff: In general, neither one nor the other complained about the problems. I don’t rule out the possibility that the settings George used will now be applied to the Lewis machine.
Q: The Austrian track is more uneven than Silverstone – are there any car build issues here?
Toto Wolff: In this regard, everything was more or less good. I think we are already on our way to solving this problem. I cannot say for sure what would have happened if we had gone back to Baku, I do not rule out the possibility that the difficulties would then be repeated. We know that our car is not the fastest in one fast lap, but it is capable of a good race pace.
Q: The decisions of today’s Formula 1 committee meeting have been announced: budget caps will be increased by 3.1%. But the financial regulations initially allowed a 3% budget overrun, and this is not considered a violation. Does this mean that the budget can now be exceeded by 6.1%? Are you satisfied with this solution?
Toto Wolff: If inflation is above 3%, the regulation provides for an appropriate adjustment of the budget. In general, it is not so easy to explain all the nuances, and I will only say that the increase in the limit, agreed today, only partially compensates for inflation, and does not include an increase in logistics costs.
Q: What mood did you leave the committee meeting in, can you share?
Toto Wolff: We fought really hard there and I don’t think it’s worth sharing.
Q: Another committee decision stems from the fact that the implementation of the FIA’s technical guideline, including checking the underside of the car and the control bar for flexibility, has been transferred to the Belgian Grand Prix. Do you think some teams have learned to get around the rules by applying special technical solutions?
Toto Wolff: Yes, I think so.
Q: Which commands exactly?
Toto Wolff: I don’t know, because I haven’t had the opportunity to study the design of the bottom and mountings of the control rods on the machines of other teams. But we are looking at rivals and I would like this technical directive to be implemented quickly, but what decisions are made, which are made. In general, there should be no such thing in the spa.
Source: F1 News
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