Wolff urges caution despite Mercedes' strong showing at Silverstone

Toto Wolff says Mercedes can be encouraged by its performance at the British Grand Prix but must remain “cautious” with its Formula 1 expectations going forward.

Mercedes had one of its most competitive weekends of the season so far at Silverstone, with an updated package and smooth track surface aiding the team’s strong showing.

Despite the German manufacturer losing George Russell during a multi-car crash on the opening lap, Lewis Hamilton worked his way into contention for a shock victory before ultimately falling short and finishing in third place.

Hamilton’s third podium and first laps leading a race in 2022 is the latest confirmation that Mercedes is making progress, but Wolff insists he doesn’t want the team to get too ahead of itself after the struggles it has faced this year.

“We had some light at the end of the tunnel in Barcelona and then struggled on three street circuits so I don’t want to talk us up too much or be too pessimistic, I’d rather be cautious,” said Wolff, as quoted by Motorsport Week.

“We still had our persistent ride issue all three days which is a key focus for us to tackle but we showed strong pace this weekend which is pleasing and our updates seemed to work well.

“In Austria, there will be a couple of corners which haven’t made our car happy in the past but it’s a constant learning process for us.

“This year is going to be a pretty tough one to win but we just need to get our house in order to be properly on top of the car’s performance.”

With the latest raft of upgrades fitted on the W13, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes the added performance bodes well for upcoming races.

“We can take a lot of encouragement from the progress this weekend,” Shovlin said. “We