Toto Wolff says resurgent McLaren now "clearly leading the field" on pace in F1; Mercedes boss also eyes gains for his team in Constructors' Championship; watch the Belgian GP, the final race before the summer break, this weekend on Sky Sports F1 with Sunday's race at 2pm
Wednesday 24 July 2024 06:13, UK
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes McLaren are the "new benchmark" for teams to chase in Formula 1 after their one-two finish in the Hungarian GP.
Although Red Bull continue to lead both world championships, F1's all-dominant team of the previous two seasons have gone three races without a win for the first time since December 2021 with McLaren finally capitalising on their recent consistent promise by finishing one-two in both qualifying and the race at the Hungaroring for their second win of the year.
Significantly, McLaren have taken 64 points out of Red Bull across the past seven races and now trail them by just 51 points - raising the spectre of the Woking team seriously mounting a challenge for their first constructors' title since 1998 over the 2024 season's final 11 rounds.
Lando Norris trails Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship by a reduced 76-point margin.
And Wolff, whose Mercedes team have made their own gains to return to winning ways in recent months but remain behind the top two, said: "What we have to acknowledge is that McLaren are clearly now leading the field and by any conditions, it is a one and two.
"That is the new benchmark.
"It's great that we have another team that has made that jump in being able to score first and second.
"It's good for all of us… I'm happy for them.
After McLaren's pit wall had to manage a tense finish between their drivers in the closing stages of the race as they tried to ensure strategy fairness, eight-time constructors' title-winning chief Wolff quipped: "I've seen the movie that they find themselves in!"
Wolff's warm words about McLaren were echoed by his driver Lewis Hamilton, who famously started his career at the Woking outfit and on Sunday joined Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on the Hungarian GP podium in third.
"You know, I got signed by McLaren when I was 13 and so there was always so much love for that team and through the journey that we had, where I had my first world championship," said Hamilton.
"And then they went through a really difficult time, so to see them back up there is really, really great. I'm really happy.
"You know that's my old family, so really, really grateful to be up here with them."
2016 world champion and Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg on McLaren emerging as the grid's fastest car and what it means for Red Bull and the rest of this season:
"I mean who would have thought that? This is incredible!
"The job that McLaren have done, unreal. I hope for them they totally understand where this pace is coming from but I assume there is a little bit that they're not quite sure too because its just really too good.
"So that's why for Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship they are getting really nervous because at the moment that looks like it's going to go McLaren's way because they [Red Bull] have only one driver who can score strong points.
"This is the first fundamental thing and that's going to only make it more difficult, the decision with Perez. They almost need to take a chance now and see if another driver would do a little bit better because it's worth taking a risk otherwise it's almost sure they will lose the Constructors' Championship to McLaren.
"Then in the Drivers' Championship, for now it's still a little bit comfortable but it can become very nervous as well soon."
Like McLaren, Mercedes too have outscored Red Bull since May's Miami GP - winning on consecutive weekends in Austria and Silverstone earlier this month - although the Brackley team were starting from a lower base after a particularly difficult start to 2024 with their all-new W15 car.
Mercedes are still fourth in the Constructors' Championship but Wolff believes that overhauling their current 81-point deficit to Ferrari over the remainder the season for third currently represents a realistic goal.
"It's difficult to put targets out because it swings a lot with upgrade to upgrade," said the team principal.
"But I think if you were to say what is a realistic-to-optimism today, it's probably P3 in the championship.
"Difficult to catch Red Bull and McLaren is now the benchmark, therefore I think that would be a good target. But it's not easy."
Having dropped back behind the leading two outfits in the heat of Budapest, Mercedes will now aim for a stronger Belgian GP this coming week at Spa-Francorchamps before F1 heads for its summer break.
"It's in humans' minds to set your expectations based on what you've just achieved, but it was clear that Budapest, the heat and the open tarmac was not something that was going to be so good for us and probably more play into the hands of other teams," Wolff added.
"So taking away a hard-fought podium - unfortunately with George [Russell] we lost the race with him yesterday [in qualifying] - is good and I'm looking forward to Spa and hopefully we see whether we can maintain this level of performance."
Thursday July 25
1.30pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday July 26
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Belgian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
2pm: F3 Qualifying
2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Belgian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5:15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday July 27
8:45am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Belgian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 28
7:25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Belgian GP build-up*
2pm: The BELGIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
The action continues this weekend with the final race before F1's summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix. You can watch every session from Spa-Francorchamps live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
