Canadian GP: Toto Wolff hints at Mercedes being competitive at Silverstone

Toto Wolff has said that if Mercedes can run their cars low at Silverstone they will be competitive at the British Grand Prix.

The W13 has been one of the more difficult Mercedes cars since their return to the sport as a works outfit in 2010 and has certainly been the toughest they have had since the turbo-hybrid era began in 2014.

Indeed, it’s clear that the car has pace but only in certain set-ups, and finding said set-ups each weekend has proven difficult with each track posing different problems.

Clearly, when the surface of the road is bumpier they appear to have more issues but in Canada they seemed to find a decent solution, with their race pace good enough to deliver them a P3 with Lewis Hamilton and a P4 with George Russell.

After the Grand Prix, then, Wolff was evidently pleased with what he had seen and he was asked by Sky how their prospects looked for Silverstone with a track surface that is very smooth indeed compared to some of the street circuits the sport has visited of late:

“If we are able to run the car low then we can be competitive but you know after Barcelona we were cheering that we were back in the championship fight… so let’s see.”

It’s perhaps unsurprising to hear Wolff being cautious to get too optimistic given what followed Barcelona.

The Mercedes looked quick there on a smooth surface but Monaco and Baku provided issues, and it’s clear there’s still work to do for the car to be fast everywhere.

Even so, the Silver Arrows seem to be getting there and if they can run the car low in Silverstone as Wolff suggests, then perhaps they are ones to watch for even the race victory.