Toto Wolff insists he is “keeping both feet on the ground” despite admitting Mercedes is “cautiously” optimistic about challenging Red Bull for victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Mercedes has shown good pace in recent races, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second behind Max Verstappen at the last two events in Austin and Mexico – although he was later disqualified from the United States Grand Prix.
LIVE BROADCAST: Follow the preparations ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend
The Silver Arrows have also had an excellent recent record in Sao Paulo, having won six of the last eight races in Brazil, including the last two – with Hamilton taking victory in 2021 and George Russell scoring his first F1 win of the year 2022.
Asked after the Mexico City GP whether he was confident of fighting for victory in Brazil, Wolff said: “I don’t know. If I’m being too optimistic here… know that only fools are optimists. I’d rather keep my feet on the ground, do the best job possible, qualify at the front and hopefully we can challenge him [Verstappen].”
Ahead of this weekend’s action, Wolff added: “We have shown encouraging pace in the last few races [we] Travel to Interlagos with cautious optimism, although we know that W14 may prove unpredictable.
“We left Mexico with our lead over Ferrari intact in the fight for second place in the constructors’ championship. This is an important fight for us and we are focused on winning it.
“Given the difficult start to the weekend and our starting positions, it was positive to leave Mexico with a second place.
READ MORE: Alpine interim boss Famin ‘very happy’ with Mick Schumacher’s WEC test in Jerez
“The car showed very good race pace, but we know we still have more work to do to get the most out of the W14 on all three days.”
However, Wolff believes that although he doesn’t know what to expect from the car in Sao Paulo, Mercedes is coming to a track he knows well and will hope to start with a “solid starting position”.
“We have one last race in this triple-header, and it’s in Brazil,” said Wolff. “We know that we have taken a good step forward in the last few races, but Mexico has shown that W14 is still difficult to master.
“We will try to arrive at Interlagos with a solid working base and will see what we can do from there.
READ MORE: Mercedes technical boss Mike Elliott leaves the Silver Arrows
“Of course we have good memories of Brazil, especially the last two visits with Lewis’ spectacular win in 2021 and George’s first win in 2022.”
“The fans are very passionate about Formula 1 and we always receive such an enthusiastic reception from them. Hopefully our package goes well there and we can put on a good show for everyone.”