Mercedes boss Toto Wolff enjoyed the experience of visiting his first Formula E race even if he still considers it to be “Super Mario Kart”.
The Austrian was in Ad Diriyah last month for the German manufacturer’s debut in the all-electric series and watched on as Stoffel Vandoorne scored two third-place finishes in both the opening two races.
While Toto is obviously much more at home on the Mercedes pit wall in Formula 1 and the racing in Formula E is seen as quite gimmicky with things like Attack Mode and Fanboost, he admits seeing it live opened his eyes a little.
“I really enjoyed the experience, I must say,” Wolff said via Crash.net. “I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia before and launching our Mercedes Formula E journey was very special.
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“The crowds were phenomenal, seeing how this country is opening up, something I didn’t expect in that way, and the racing is very different to Formula 1, clearly you can say that.
“For me, it’s Super Mario Kart with real drivers, but it’s absolutely valid to give that a chance.”
Since then, Mercedes went on to finish fifth and sixth at the third race in Santiago last weekend and would have had another podium with Nyck De Vries had the team not broken a battery temperature rule.
“Nyck has already contributed a great deal to the team’s performance,” Wolff said offering his praise to the reigning F2 champion.
“He’s very mature and the way he’s – as a personality and as a racing driver – been able to slot into the team with Stoffel is really nice to see.
“We have set our ambitions or our expectations on a realistic target, which we have overachieved and both of the drivers contributed to this happening.”
Vandoorne currently leads the Drivers’ standings by three points while Mercedes are two points behind BMW in second in the Constructors’.