Mercedes Director Allison Contradicts Wolff’s Claim on Developing F1 Car Ahead of Austrian GP

The Styrian Grand Prix displayed the difference in performance between Red Bull and Mercedes this season. Although the Silver Arrows recorded another double podium, Lewis Hamilton barely troubled race winner Max Verstappen during the 71-lap race.

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes’ Chief Technical Officer James Allison laid out his team’s plans to bounce back this season.

James Allison responds to Toto Wolff’s comments on focusing towards the 2022 season

After Sunday’s race, Wolff hinted the defending champions won’t develop their car any further this season. Although these comments made it seem their title challenge was over, Mercedes CTO James Allison gave an encouraging response.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 20: James Allison, chief technical director of Mercedes-AMG F1 Team at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 20, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Eric Alonso/MB Media/Getty Images)

Appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, the Briton clarified what the Austrian meant with his choice of words. He said, “What Toto points out is that next year’s rules are a big and hairy affair and they demand a huge amount of our attention. And so, most of the focus of our factory has shifted to the performance discovery for next year.

“But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things still in the food chain prior to that focus switch, and furthermore it isn’t all of the factory. Furthermore, we’re only one of two factories that’s also a PU factory, and there’s more to come from the PU.”

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Allison hints at improvements for Mercedes in the coming races

The 53-year-old outlined the challenge they have this season. He said, “The challenge is on us to try and make sure we can find the missing performance so that we can put pressure on Red Bull. And hopefully see them stumble, and make this a fight.”

He pointed out some changes that may help the Silver Arrows in the remaining races this season. “We have reasonable number of things to make our car faster in the coming races,” said Allison.

“There’s some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU we hope on the delivery side. And just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still got the opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”

With the Austrian Grand Prix in a matter of days, Mercedes will hope to close the gap to their championship rivals. While the task may seem daunting, the season is far from over.

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