Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has denied that the team could be prepared to give up on securing wins under Formula 1’s current regulations despite its ongoing struggles.
Since F1 returned to ground effect cars in 2022, Mercedes has been unable to replicate the unparalleled success that saw it sweep eight consecutive championships.
The German marque has been victorious on one occasion – the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – and has now slipped to fourth in the Constructors’ standings this season.
Despite renewed optimism that its revamped car had addressed the limitations in the W15’s predecessor, Mercedes is now combating “fundamental” correlation issues.
It has been touted that Mercedes could move resources towards the regulation overhaul in 2026 to ensure it hits the ground running when sweeping changes are made.
But while Wolff has admitted that catching Red Bull prior to that is improbable, he has clarified that Mercedes is still not willing to sacrifice both this season and 2025.
“If your expectation is eventually to race for wins and championships, then you can say we’re in a bit of a no-man’s land,” Wolff proclaimed.
“Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull are far ahead in this bunch, but it’s not satisfying for neither team that is fighting for P2 and P3 or P4. And then it’s some of the smaller teams.
“I’ve always said that if I was to look from a pure sporting point of view, it’s P1 what matters and not P2, P3, P4.
“But this is a reality that we are facing at the moment and we’re trying to do the best out of this new reality and that is to beat our direct competitors. Whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job and is setting a benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again.
“Whether we’re able to, with our ambition to win races this year, and I wouldn’t want to let that ambition go.
“Certainly not next year, but 2026 is a big reset which certainly provides the most realistic opportunity for any other team to beat Red Bull. But there is one and three-quarter seasons before that and I don’t want to go through much more suffering in the next 18 months. I just hope for highlights and a trajectory that’s going upwards.”
Wolff concedes that Mercedes’ status as a worldwide brand has a role in his desire to see its flailing fortunes reversed before new technical rules are implemented.
The FIA announced in December that it had added a regulation that prevented the 10 incumbent teams from working on F1’s future iteration machines during 2024.
Therefore, Wolff was asked whether a decision would need to be made at the end of this term about deserting development on the 2025 car once that ban is lifted.
“We are Mercedes. We cannot completely abandon the current regulations and then continue to perform at the level we are at the moment,” the Austrian answered.
“That’s not the ambition of the brand and our own and our partners.
“So, I think you’ve got to continue to push, continue to form your understanding.
“And eventually when the FIA comes up with some kind of form of regulations like all the other things, we will be starting to look at it and probably more on the earlier side.”
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