Wolff: Aiming to get top three in both F1 championships

With a series of welcome wins under their belt, Mercedes finally found the elusive 'Go-Fast-Button' on their car, which Hamilton and Russell have since put to good use leading up to the summer break. So much so that Wolff aims to turn their current (lowly for their lofty standards) P4 in the 2024 F1 Constructors' Championship into a top-three finish, and to get at least one of his drivers into the top three of the F1 Drivers' standings.

Sharing his thoughts on the Mercedes F1 Team's official website ahead of the season's resumption with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort later this month, Wolff said: "Three victories in the past four races are a testament to that. It has come from a lot of hard work and dedication from everyone at Brackley and Brixworth.

"The difference now from the start of the season is that we have a car that can score solid points every week. We also have two top drivers who are able to make that happen. We have more work to do to be in the fight for victory every weekend, but we have made good steps forward, and we have a car that can perform near the front of the field," reckoned the Merc boss.

The front of the field Wolff refers to is perhaps the most competitive it has ever been. Eight drivers from four teams are capable of winning when the stars align for them, and seven of them have already done so this year.

Last year, 14 rounds into the season, Red Bull had not lost a race. This year, Max Verstappen has won seven, while teammate Sergio Perez's form has dipped into 'fireable offence' territory, with no wins in '24 so far for the veteran. With the Mexican driver underperforming, McLaren has set their sights on P1 in the Constructors' battle.

Wolff has his own targets for Mercedes: "It is difficult to say what will happen in the final 10 races. The competitive order between the top four is close. That is a good thing, though, as it is making the sport incredibly exciting. We will be pushing hard to fight for more victories and aiming to get top three in both championships."

Prior to the well-documented "How could we be so dumb?" moment, the team experienced, it was pure misery at Mercedes—clear from the outside and confirmed by Wolff: "The start of the season was difficult. Our aim over the winter had been to solve the underlying issues that hampered the W14."

But the early signs were tough to swallow, Wolff explained: "We managed that but found new problems. This also made the picture clearer. We had ticked many boxes of things we thought had caused our issues. There was not a lot left over, therefore. The team worked hard to get on top of these issues.

"As we progressed, we realized what we were doing wrong. From that point on, we've made solid steps forward. We saw that in China. Lewis' Sprint P2 was a strong performance and a good indication of the potential the W15 had. It was encouraging.

"When we got to Europe, those signs kept coming. We saw a real correlation between the virtual world, the tunnel, the simulator, and the track. It was a sense of relief but also motivating. We knew what performance we had to bring to the track. The factory worked incredibly hard to bring this as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Pole in Canada did not come as a surprise to us, therefore. We started to see many sessions that looked positive, not just on Friday when the track was green and where we had been misled in the past. That has resulted in an upturn in fortunes," Wolff said, reflecting on the moment when the penny dropped, and a winning machine became the Mercedes W15.