Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in a defiant mood seemingly, despite the Germans’ miserable start to the season last weekend in Bahrain.
It was a troubling weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit for the Brackley-based team, as their disappointing pre-season was followed by an equally disappointing first race of the season.
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth whilst George Russell claimed seventh, with Hamilton having crossed the line 51 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen.
It marks a worrying time difference for Mercedes, who qualified sixth and seventh for the race.
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To make matters even worse, the Germans have slipped to fourth in the pecking order, with Aston Martin having moved ahead of them.
Whilst only one round of 23 has been completed, the likelihood is that Hamilton won’t claim his eighth World Championship this season, given how disappointing the W14 is.
Wolff is determined, though, to get Hamilton his eighth title and has predicted that he has “another four years” at the pinnacle of motorsport.
“We’re going to get him his eighth [title],” Wolff said.
“Compared to Alonso, he has another four years in him.”
Whilst he remains defiant that Hamilton will get his eighth crown at Mercedes, Wolff ranked the Bahrain GP as “one of the worst days”, with the Austrian having felt “hurt” by how far ahead Red Bull are.
Wolff stated that their Austrian rivals are currently “on a different planet”, with nobody having had the pace to challenge either Verstappen or Sergio Pérez.
Despite his disappointment, Wolff is confident that the Silver Arrows can close the gap, with Red Bull now being the “benchmark”.
“One of the worst days in racing,” Wolff admitted to Sky Sports F1.
“Really not good at all, we were just lacking pace front, right, and centre.
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“Red Bull is just on a different planet. That is what hurts because they are so far ahead, it reminds me of our best years because we just put a second on everybody else.
“That is the benchmark and we have to do one step after the other to come back and we can do that. We can, absolutely we can.
“I think it needs to be much more radical in the steps than hope for a three tenths upgrade.”