Toto Wolff makes shocking admission on Mercedes best race of 2023 F1 season

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has made the surprising admission that the team’s best race of the 2023 Formula 1 season was in Austin.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left frustrated for much of the campaign by the pace of their car as they struggled to keep up with Red Bull.

Toto Wolff was speaking to SpeedCafe and reflecting on a winless year for the British team.

The last time a Mercedes driver stood on the top step of the podium was in Sao Paulo last year.

Russell was the victor that day but the young Brit struggled to build on his excellent maiden season with the team.

The car was difficult to drive but Lewis Hamilton did very well to finish third in the Drivers’ Championship, especially without a win to his name.

Arguably Hamilton’s best race was in Austin this season and despite his disqualification, Wolff has admitted that it was probably Mercedes’s best race of the year.

That says an awful lot about their struggles, although there are plenty of other manufacturers on the grid who would love a bad year to end with finishing runners-up in the championship.

They now need to revolutionise their car over the winter to try and close the gap to Red Bull in 2024.

Mercedes boss Wolff says Austin was the team’s best race

Asked what the best grand Prix for the team was and why, Wolff said: “This might sound strange because we got disqualified, but Austin!

“We brought an upgrade package that worked, the car was performing well, and we were hunting down the leader. You could say, ‘Well, you were disqualified for a car that was too low’, but the genuine performance was there and that was an enjoyable weekend.

“I’ve always said that I’d rather have a fast car that we haven’t tuned in the right way. And obviously, you need to finish.

“But that was the best weekend overall, seeing that the correlation between the wind tunnel and the track was good.”

Jenson Button has backed Hamilton to challenge Verstappen in 2024 if he’s in the right car.

Wolff will hope that Mercedes can provide a car that delivers that strong level of performance in Austin across an entire season.

That will be easier said than done and Red Bull have likely kicked on too.

However, the car can only improve so much under the current regulations and the gap should close between the teams in 2024.