After falling behind Red Bull and Ferrari to third place in the F1 constructors’ standings in a hugely challenging 2022 campaign that saw the team register just a single race victory, Mercedes are hoping to be back in the hunt for titles this season.
Mercedes’ troubled W13 was compromised by porpoising and bouncing but the Silver Arrows hope to have put their issues behind them after spending the majority of last year getting to the bottom of the problem.
And Wolff hopes Mercedes can use the learnings of last season’s struggles to unlock the full potential of their new car – the W14.
“I think we have understood how we fell back, where the shortcomings are, and where we have gaps in understanding,” Wolff said.
“We’re working hard on putting a car on the ground that has addressed all of that. But we will only see when starting testing whether we have unlocked the potential that we believe has always been in the car.”
After enduring his worst season in F1, Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to get back to winning ways by dethroning arch rival Max Verstappen to claim a record-breaking eighth world title.
Meanwhile, George Russell will be looking to build on his impressive rookie Mercedes season that saw him take the team’s only win and become just the second teammate in the last six years to beat Hamilton in the world championship.
However, Wolff insisted Mercedes remain cautious about their chances at the start of 2023 amid fears Red Bull could maintain the advantage they held at the end of last year.
“We have no doubt, when you’re starting behind by half a second, that it’s going to be difficult to catch up to such great organisations like Red Bull, or Ferrari,” he continued.
“Now, having said that, we are super determined in doing just that. But we need to set our expectations at a realistic level.
“If we perform in the way we hope, then we’d like to be part of the racing at the very front. I think that would be a starting point.
“But we don’t take that for granted. It could well be that the gaps are like they were at the end of last season.
“I think there is so much potential still that within our car, within the concept, the way we drive the car, etc, that maybe our development slope can be steeper in the months to come.”
