Toto Wolff expresses his doubts about the expected gains from the latest Mercedes development package, despite a dominant Canadian weekend.
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Toto Wolff expressed his doubts about the real benefits brought by the latest technical evolution of Mercedes, despite a Canadian Grand Prix largely dominated by the German team.
While the results in Montreal were excellent, the head of the Brackley team believes that the performances observed do not necessarily reflect what was expected on paper before the package was introduced.
“At times, I felt that it did not bring the performance gains we expected on paper, but it is very difficult to assess,” Wolff explained to the media.
A difficult weekend to interpret for Mercedes
Mercedes introduced its first major development package of the season directly in Canada, after deliberately waiting several races before running it on the W17.
In terms of results, the weekend was almost perfect with pole positions, Sprint victory, and Grand Prix success. However, Wolff remains cautious about interpreting these performances, believing that the context partly distorts the analysis.
“We did not see the McLarens in the race, we had the pace and the gap, but it is very difficult to say if this exactly matches what we anticipated,” he added.
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The Montreal context clouds the conclusions
For Wolff, the fact that Montreal is historically a circuit favorable to Mercedes further complicates the evaluation of the new package.
He believes that the displayed performance could be amplified by the nature of the Quebec track rather than solely by the recent technical developments introduced.
“Montreal was already a favorable circuit for us last year, so does this improve our performance image more than on other circuits? Probably,” he explained.
Answers expected in the coming races
The Mercedes leader therefore remains measured and insists on the need to confirm progress on circuits more representative of the rest of the season.
According to him, only an analysis over several Grand Prix will determine whether the 2026 package constitutes a real step forward or simply benefits from a favorable context.
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“We must continue to monitor and analyze,” Wolff concluded.