'Hero to zero' Monaco not Wolff's focus as Barcelona is the right barometer

19:14, 23 May

Updated: 19:51, 23 May

byNorberto Mujica

For Mercedes, after the positive start to the 2025 F1 season, it's been going downhill since the Miami Grand Prix as their W16 turns out, also has a temperature related weakness. Wolff skips past 'outlier' Monaco and looks to Barcelona as the proper barometer for their current season's performance.

It is of course, not by chance. As for the Spanish Grand Prix the FIA is implementing the revised changes to its Technical Directive TD018 pertaining to the flexibility of the front wings, aiming to restricting it.

Whilst opinion is divided as to how much the TD will change the current pecking order, with some doubting it will at all, they all nonetheless agree that the revised TD will essentially have an impact in the teams' performance.

"Monaco is such an outlier. You're between hero and zero, it goes quickly. So, Barcelona is the one that counts in order to assess our performance levels," said Wolff to media including GPblog.

Formula 1 World Championship 2025, Round 8, Monaco Grand Prix, Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Friday 23 May 2025 - George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W16.

Wolff thinks Miami and Imola have made things look worse than they are

Whereas the team managed to finish in the top 3 in three of the first five rounds, with Mercedes' woes begining in Saudi Arabia, Wolff remains balanced as the team faces potential development issues and the ground-effect rules long temperature dependance where their car grows stronger in cold conditions but fades in the midst of hotter weather.

"I think it's not so much about being surprised or disappointed because it's a fact. We are in front of a situation that we wanted to work ourselves out. I think we had a much more decent start to the season than last year, so that is maybe the positive way of looking at things."

"But definitely for all of us and under expectation delivery, maybe also a little bit influenced by Miami, [with] Miami and Imola having been really not good enough. So, let's see how we can sort ourselves out a little bit more, after Monaco."

In Monaco Mercedes has looked off the pace with George Russell scoring P6 in FP1 but unable to make it through to the top 10 in FP2, whilst for teammate Andrea Antonelli it was exactly the opposite as he was relegated out of the first ten places in FP1 and during FP2 managed to sneak in, albeit in P9.