Mercedes are rapidly running out of races to win a Grand Prix this season, with just six events left this year.
The Silver Arrows are desperate to continue their streak of having won at least one race every year since 2012; however, with the strength of Red Bull this appears worryingly unlikely.
The German team came close to victory at the recent Dutch Grand Prix but were unfortunately beaten by Max Verstappen as a result of a late Virtual Safety Car and then an actual Safety Car.
Following on from their early season porpoising woes, Mercedes are finally starting to make significant progress towards beating not necessarily Red Bull, but certainly Ferrari.
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The Brackley-based team are in a fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship with the Italian’s, with just 35 points separating the pair.
This would at best be a consolidation for the defending Constructors’ Champions, who are set to pass on their crown to Red Bull imminently.
A victory would release a lot of stress off the team’s shoulders, with the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix representing a good chance for the Silver Arrows to do just that.
George Russell believes the Marina Bay Circuit “suits” the W13; however, street circuits haven’t been particularly kind to Mercedes this season, who have been a victim of the bumps at Monaco and Azerbaijan.
Team principal Toto Wolff doesn’t care where the team wins, as long as they do it.
The Mercedes boss, though, wants the win to come on “merit without any grid penalties”.
“It would be awesome if we could win a race on merit without any grid penalties,” said Wolff.
“If you had asked after Spa, I would have said impossible [to win this season]. Then Zandvoort, we nearly won that one, but Monza was not good.
“So that [winning just one race] must be the target. We don’t want to end a season with no race win.
“Even if the sail is absolutely set for 2023, it would be quite a nice thing in a difficult season for all of our people.”
The recent Italian Grand Prix brought some unwanted memories back for Wolff and Sir Lewis Hamilton, as the race at Monza ended behind the Safety Car following a late retirement for Daniel Ricciardo.
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Both Hamilton and Wolff praised race director Niels Wittich for following the rulebook and ending the race the way he did, unlike Michael Masi at the 2021 season finale.
Wolff was asked if claiming victory at this season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would give the team some form of psychological relief; however, the 50-year-old is adamant that nothing will help heal the wounds from that controversial day.
“Poetic justice… I don’t think anything is going to bring us that championship back next year, so wherever [for the win],” added Wolff.