Toto Wolff shares one aspect of Mercedes performance that will be ‘very different’ in 2024

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes that the team’s pitstops in 2024 will be much sharper than in previous seasons.

Fans of Formula 1 during the refuelling era would be shocked at the idea of McLaren completing a pitstop in Qatar in 1.80 seconds.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Toto Wolff shared more details about what to expect from the Silver Arrows this year.

Mercedes may have finished runner-up to Red Bull last year, but Christian Horner’s team were in a different league.

They finished more than 450 points behind the Austrian team and Max Verstappen would have quite easily beaten their tally on his own.

Lewis Hamilton went a second straight season without a win while George Russell struggled compared to his debut season in Mercedes back in 2022.

Hamilton did well to challenge Sergio Perez for much of the year but in the end, the raw speed of the Mexican was too much for the seven-time champion.

However, a small improvement Wolff hopes Mercedes can make this year is their pitstops.

Red Bull and McLaren dominated the pitstop standings in 2023, both producing sub-two-second times.

Mercedes could benefit from those fine margins that can ultimately end up deciding a Grand Prix.

Wolff says Mercedes pitstops will improve in 2024

The report suggests that Mercedes have put more resources into areas such as wheel-locking mechanisms and axle materials.

Speaking about the improvements, Wolff said: “I think the regulations, how they were laid out a few years ago, we interpreted them in a very conservative way.

“And we’ve seen other teams doing it differently. So, watch this space. I think it’s going to be very different.”

Pitstops are just another aspect of Formula 1 that is being studied all the time and Wolff will hope Mercedes can now challenge Red Bull and McLaren’s efficiency in the pitlane.

The margins between Mercedes and Red Bull weren’t particularly fine last year and even a more efficient pitstop wouldn’t have helped Hamilton or Russell.

It felt like Mercedes couldn’t quite work out what was wrong and as a result never really closed the gap on Red Bull.

They made strides forward, but races like Sao Paulo showed that everything still wasn’t right towards the end of the season.