F1 2022: ‘It’s just so painful’ – Toto Wolff says Mercedes season has been like ‘Groundhog Day’

Toto Wolff admits Mercedes’ 2022 Formula One season has been a “painful” experience as they continue to claw back their pace deficit to Red Bull and Ferrari.

However, the new regulations have seen them drop back behind Red Bull and Ferrari for the majority of the first half of the season.

“You oscillate from depression to exuberance, and then the next day the other way around. And in a way that when you kind of think nothing that you do works, [it is] a bit of Groundhog Day.

“Then you make steps forward by looking at things and finding out they don’t function at all, and then you know what doesn’t go, and you go the other way and it functions.

“All the things I’ve preached, all the things that you read in books that it’s so hard, that it is so important to lose in order to thrive. It’s just lived in real life so far.”

George Russell is 85 points behind championship leader Verstappen whilst Lewis Hamilton is 112 points behind the Dutchman with nine races to go.

Mercedes appear to have closed the gap to the front in recent events although, with Russell taking a shock pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix. They are yet to win a race in 2022, which Wolff is hoping to change.

“We managed to turn around,” said Wolff. “Some things are more trivial than you think. Other things were important to get on top of [such as] the porpoising, which we have none today.

“From an engineering standpoint, that was certainly valuable. But for all of us, from a human standpoint, professional human standpoint, it was very difficult to cope.

“Because if the top engineers don’t really understand why the data are not correlating with reality that’s not easy.

“You’re lost. But it’s not the feeling of completely being lost. But you’re thinking, how long is this going to take to comprehend? Because we have a next season approaching. You’re like, ‘we need to get on top of this quickly, because next season’s car needs to get out of the blocks.’”

Can Mercedes win a race in 2022?

Mercedes have taken full advantage of Ferrari’s errors and reliability issues since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, taking six podiums in a row with Hamilton and Russell, including a double podium in France and Hungary.

They seemed to have largely resolved their porpoising issues and a new technical directive, to clampdown on bouncing and flexi-floors, will be introduced from the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix, which may help the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton has won a race in every season he’s competed in since making his F1 debut in 2007. It’s a streak he will be desperate to maintain and he has nine opportunities to add to his 103 victories.