Although it often finishes on the podium but without a real fight for victory, Mercedes knows it has to improve – and as is often the case, tires play a key role .
If you look at the drivers’ standings for 2025, you might think that George Russell from has a chance of winning the title. The Briton has been the epitome of consistency so far – finishing every qualifying and every race, including the sprint race, in the top five, and taking four podiums.
But at the same time, Russell has not led a single lap of the race this year. The closest he came to doing so was at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he briefly challenged pole position holder Oscar Piastre at the start, but finished well behind: 15.5 seconds behind.
“When we talk about pure pace, that’s qualifying,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “Then you put everything on the table – what can the car produce in terms of downforce? And there we are evenly matched.”
“But in the end, points are won in a race. And a race is also about being able to maintain that pace over a long period of time, over many laps, and we can’t do that right now.”
Wolff was not wrong. Over the first three races of the season, the fastest Mercedes car was on average 0.289 seconds slower than pole position. That gap has now been reduced to 0.116 seconds over the last three races.
However, pace on long stints remains a weak point, and the gap to victory without a safety car is widening: 11 seconds in China, 17 in Japan, 27 in Jeddah and 38 in Miami.
“We have a really fast car – I think for one lap or a few laps it’s completely competitive – but we’re just not good with the tyres over longer stints,” Wolff admitted. “And McLaren shows how to do it. To a certain extent, I think Red Bull with Max [Verstappen] also manages it better.”
“We’re solid at what we do, but they definitely do a great job of managing to be quick through the corners without overheating the tires.”
Wolff also strongly rejected any accusations that McLaren may be exploiting the “grey areas” of the technical regulations; the Woking team has reportedly found a way to prevent brake heat from being transferred to the rear tyres, thereby taking them out of the optimal temperature range.
The Austrian stressed that McLaren’s leaders are “good people with integrity” and added: “I have no doubt at all that these guys are following the rules. It’s just a great development. They have understood better than anyone else how to manage the tyres. And in my opinion, it’s completely legitimate.”
“Also, from a managerial perspective, when someone is doing a better job than you, you shouldn’t immediately think they’re cheating – because that’s not the right approach. We just have to get better and in the end we can’t end up 30 or 35 seconds behind after 55 laps.”
Focusing on tire management makes sense for Mercedes, as Wolff sees it as “the biggest factor in the difference between the top four teams” and points out that working on it “will also be beneficial” for the 2026 car, despite the technical changes that are coming.
“And we’re working on it, absolutely,” Wolff said. “It’s not like we’re looking at it like Bambi in the headlights. We’re actively involved, we’re exploring, we’re experimenting – and we’re definitely up for the challenge.”
