Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff had good reason to be proud of his team after back-to-back victories by George Russell in Austria and Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone but in Hungary, it was back down to earth amid a season of finest margins and a volatile pecking order.
Red Bull [meaning Max Verstappen] started the season in rampaging form, winning the first four of five races comfortably. A repeat of the 2023 F1 was feared at that point. But then McLaren and Ferrari closed the gap, followed by Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz won in Melbourne, while Verstappen (brake failure) scored a DNF. Ferrari then won the Monaco Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc winning. But they faded. Then McLaren triumphed with Norris in Miami, and again in Budapest last time out with Piastri.
In what will be music to his driver's ears, Wolff revealed that more upgrades are on track for Spa-Francorchamps. Clearly, the taste of victory has inspired the hard-working folks at Brackley and Brixworth.
Wolff: We are on a positive trajectory and that is encouraging
Verstappen bounced back, benefiting from rivals blundering, with wins in Canada and Spain. Then Mercedes popped up on the scene with their double, after two years with one win. They trebled the tally in the matter of two race weekends.
Heading to Round 14, the Belgian Grand Prix, Wolff said in the Mercedes preview of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps: "We head into the final race before the summer break on a run of five consecutive podium finishes.
"We are therefore looking to continue that momentum and finish the first half of the season strongly. The pack at the front is close and we will have to be at our best to do so though. Whilst we are lacking a little bit of pace compared to some of our competitors, we continue to bring performance to the car.
"We are on a positive trajectory and that is encouraging. It is not yet enough to fight for victories consistently each and every weekend, but has enabled us to be in contention for the top-three more regularly," explained Wolff.
Mercedes are lagging P4 in the 2024 F1 Constructors' standings
While pre-Hungary talk of a hat trick filtered into race previews, the Mercedes W15 ws unhappy on the tight Hungaroring layout. Spa-Francorchamps should suit the package better, with it's fast sweeps and long straight.
Wolff continued: "Last weekend in Hungary was not straightforward. We qualified out of position and left ourselves with plenty of work to do. We were able to race hard on Sunday though and score solid points, including Lewis claiming his 200th podium in F1 which is a superb achievement.
It was positive to see the steps we have made in those hotter conditions, although there is more work to do. Spa is a very different challenge to Budapest. With cooler temperatures and a much more high-speed layout, it will be interesting to see how the W15 performs compared to our rivals," added Wolff.
Despite the two victories, and Hamilton's latest podium, Mercedes are anchored P4 in the 2024 F1 Constructors' standings, way ahead of the Rest but 81 points behind Ferrari in P3, and a massive 148 points down on leaders Red Bull Racing.
Big Question: Are Mercedes really back?
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