Toto Wolff says this season feels like 2013 at Mercedes at the moment

Toto Wolff says the current Formula 1 season feels like the 2013 campaign where the Mercedes car was not as strong as the Red Bull or Ferrari.

One of the most intriguing early plot-lines of F1’s new era centres around Mercedes and their slight drop-off, with them going from being the all-conquering eight-time Constructors’ champions to probably only the third quickest car on the grid.

Indeed, Red Bull and Ferrari have seriously got the jump on them at this early stage of the campaign and, though you would expect the Silver Arrows to eventually make up some ground on the leaders, it is clear that they have a lot of work to do at the moment.

That said, Wolff has seen comparisons between this season and the last campaign where they didn’t win a trophy; 2013:

“I love competition and I’ve always loved competition.

“We had a really strong run of eight years where we were leading the pack, not always, but we kind of managed our way into the lead.

“This time for me feels a little bit like 2013, where we just weren’t up to the speed with the Red Bull and probably also not with the Ferraris but we kept fighting. This is how I feel at the moment.”

In fairness, Mercedes still came second in the Constructors’ championship in 2013 so it was hardly a write-off year, though obviously everyone is only in Formula 1 to win and win alone.

It’s clear they’ve got some developments to be made in the coming weeks and months, though, and we’ll just have to wait and see if they can reel in Ferrari and Red Bull quick enough to prevent the championship race becoming too far out of reach in 2022.