Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has vowed that the team won’t “give up” on returning to championship contention before the regulations are overhauled in 2026.
Having previously swept to a record tally of eight consecutive Constructors’ titles, Mercedes has struggled since F1 returned to using ground effect machinery back in 2022.
The Brackley squad’s prospects over the past two years have been hindered by persisting with the ‘zeropod’ concept, which it abandoned midway through last season.
Meanwhile, Red Bull has exploited the downwash sidepod solution to devastating effect, logging 39 wins from the last 44 races to secure successive championship doubles.
Despite its main rival’s sizeable advantage, Wolff declares that Mercedes can’t surrender hope of reigniting its title credentials under the remaining two years of this rules cycle.
“I don’t want to give up on the recovery and say, ‘Well, let’s wait for 2026, new car, new engine’,” Wolff told Autosport.
“There is two more important years to go. I want to see it as a testament for the strengths of the team that we are capable to recover and race for championships. That’s our clear objective.”
Although Mercedes has been vocal about its plans to pursue a revised car philosophy with its W14 challenger, Wolff has warned that it represents a tough task to catch Red Bull.
“Looking at the odds, very difficult,” he assessed. “Looking at performances of other teams, how Aston Martin has done over the winter [from 2022 into 2023], McLaren recovered a second with an upgrade they expected to come in at 0.25 seconds… There is a sweet spot that you need to find and that unlocks more potential.
“I think the biggest contributor is that the drivers start to have a car that they can trust, which they can’t at the moment.”
The engine regulations for 2026 will see the removal of the Motor Generator Unit – Heat (MGU-H) component, with a 50-50 split in power output between the internal combustion engine and electric power.
Furthermore, the new power units will also run solely on sustainable fuels and see overall fuel consumption reduced, with development limited subject to a cost cap.
Mercedes’ 2026 engine – which will also be used by McLaren – has been in development since 2022 at the team’s High-Performance Powertrains division located in Brixworth.
However, on the chassis side, the FIA’s sporting regulations prohibit teams from conducting wind tunnel or CFD work on the next generation of cars until January 2025.
The 2026 cars have been designed to be lighter, narrower and shorter than the current machines, while also featuring moveable aero on both the front and rear wings.
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