Toto Wolff finds uncanny 'cycle' in Mercedes' woeful 2022 campaign and a 'stock market crash'

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has likened the 2022 F1 debacle to a stock market crash. The Mercedes challenger last year struggled immensely with the porpoising effect that handicapped the team for a chunk of the 2022 F1 season. The porpoising/bouncing effect was so bad that it caused physical harm to the team's lead driver Lewis Hamilton at Baku.

The F1 legend was seen struggling to get out of his car and in visible pain after the race. Looking back, Mercedes' Mike Elliot had revealed that the team knew about the potential porpoising phenomenon but wasn't expecting the situation to be so adverse.

Speaking of porpoising and its impact, Toto Wolff compared the porpoising impact on the team to the stock market crash of 2000s. The Mercedes boss said that not having the experience of working on the ground effect cars was the primary reason behind the team's struggle. He explained to Auto Motor und Sport:

“I see analysts and investors in the capital market today who are in their 40s and made the same mistakes as in the 2000s because these people didn’t experience the 2000s. It’s not enough to read in a book how the stock market crash happened or the internet bubble burst. There is an uncanny advantage – and this is something I personally witnessed – to go through the whole cycle. From the moment everything goes through the roof to the crash."

He added:

“Coupled with the belief that this is just a snapshot. This is followed by the disillusionment that, unfortunately, it continues. One admits to oneself that the market was simply overheated and valuations too high. Fast forward to this year. This is exactly what happened on the stock markets. Astronomical valuations for internet and tech start-ups, despite a negative macroeconomic environment.”

How did Red Bull avoid the fate suffered by Mercedes?

Red Bull was able to avoid the fate suffered by Mercedes because Adrian Newey had prior experience of working on the ground effect cars. Talking about porpoising. Adrian Newey had revealed that the bouncing phenomenon is in the DNA of these cars as he said:

“I had a basic understanding of the ground effect principle and also of the phenomenon that we saw 40 years as porpoising bouncing. So I guessed what was in store for us. Even I was surprised by the extent of the bouncing as the teams should have known as it’s a phenomenon that’s in the genes of these cars.”

The 2023 F1 season will also be crucial in this respect as it will be interesting to see if the cars are still porpoising or not.