In the wake of his team wrapping up another two Formula 1 World Championship title after the Brazilian Grand Prix, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff admits he was humbled by celebrations at the team’s UK headquarters.
Speaking ahead of the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Wolff revealed, “The celebrations in Brixworth and Brackley last week were a very humbling experience. Claiming the fifth consecutive double championship – an experience that only very few people in the sport have had before – felt amazing and we all cherished that moment.”
“At the same time, everyone is extremely keen to continue to raise the bar together and be even stronger in 2019. For now, we have one race to go in 2018 and we want to put on a great show for the fans who supported us through the season, be it at the track, in front of their TV or on social media.”
“The championship pressure is off, so we can look at this as one race where we can really go for broke. Our Silver Arrow has won 10 races so far this season and we all want to add one more to that score – especially Valtteri [Bottas], who has lost out on wins this season through bad luck and team orders.”
“We know, too, that it will be a tough battle because both Red Bull and Ferrari will have the same target of taking good momentum into the winter. ”
“We have taken four wins in a row at Yas Marina, although it’s a track with a lot of slow and medium speed corners. We’ve made some good steps forward when it comes to our car’s performance on similar tracks, so we’re confident that we can perform strongly in Abu Dhabi as well, and end this incredible 2018 season on a high,” added Wolff.
Mercedes head to Abu Dhabi with both 2018 F1 titles annexed with Lewis Hamilton doing the business a couple of races ago and the constructors’ title claimed last time out at Interlagos, making it ten titles in five years.
This season, in 20 races, they have managed 23 podiums, 11 of which were victories (all Hamilton) and 11 pole positions in another show of dominance that has marked the past five years in the top flight.