Toto Wolff adamant Mercedes have “made solid progress” despite poor results

Toto Wolff is convinced Mercedes have made “solid progress” with their W15 F1 car despite a run of poor results in 2024.

Mercedes’ best finish of the year came at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with George Russell, finishing fifth.

Since then, neither Russell nor Lewis Hamilton have finished inside the top five, making it their worst start to a campaign in over a decade.

Mercedes have fond memories of China ahead of its return this weekend, winning back in 2012 - their first win since returning to F1 in 2010.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Wolff said: “Returning to China is an important moment for the sport. As the world's largest automotive market and second biggest economy, China is crucial to the sport's global footprint. The growth of F1 in recent years has been positive and China is a key market in which to continue this progress.

“We are looking forward to racing in Shanghai for the first time in five years and bringing F1 back to the Chinese fans. With a sell-out crowd expected, I am sure it will be a fantastic event.”

Wolff is hopeful Mercedes can continue to ‘build’ on the progress they enjoyed in China despite there being limited practice time due to the sprint format.

“It will be an interesting weekend on track,”  he added. “With new cars, new tyres, and changes to the track surface since we last raced in China, there will be plenty of unknowns. We have the first Sprint weekend of the year too and that brings its own challenges.

“The changes to the format, including a second parc fermé, will be an improvement to the rhythm of the weekend - and the single hour of practice still puts pressure on to make correct decisions with imperfect information. We are looking forward to that test, though. 

“The headline results didn't necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan. We are looking forward to building on that this weekend.”