Mercedes boss Toto Wolff issued a furious response to new accusations of Formula 1 illegality, flippantly suggesting he’ll soon be accused of being “on the Epstein files.”
The German marque has been unable to escape constant attention around its controversial power unit across the winter months, due to the exploitation of the loophole around the regulated compression ratios.
With the FIA now deciding to hold a vote for the Power Unit Manufacturers [PUMs] to determine a change in measurements of the ratios after the summer break, a new charge has been raised towards the Brackley-based squad.
This time, it is regarding the new sustainable fuels, which are compulsory from this season. And its supplier Petronas is still waiting for its fuel to be officially approved before the opening round in Melbourne.
Rumours are swirling that the Malaysian organisation may miss the cut-off point for formal approval, which would cause the team to use a non-homologated fuel for the opening round in Melbourne next month.
But Wolff, who has faced countless questions regarding alleged grey areas for the Silver Arrows for several weeks, shot back on Thursday afternoon during pre-season testing in Bahrain.
“We were told compression ratio is something where we were illegal, which is total bulls**t, utter bulls**t,” the Austrian told media including Motorsport Week.
“Now the next story comes up that our fuel is illegal. I don’t know where that comes from, and it starts spinning again.
“Maybe tomorrow, we’re inventing something else that I don’t know – I’ve been on the Epstein files. God knows what?
“So another nonsense. You know, this is a complicated topic with the process and all of this, but I can’t even comment.”
Wolff concedes potential F1 rule changes are ‘not worth the fight’
Whilst Wolff and the Mercedes outfit have continuously protested its PU’s legality, Wolff admitted that if rules are to be given adjustments, then he will not counter-contest them.
“We said it all along that this looks like a storm in a teacup, the whole thing, and the numbers that were coming up, if these numbers would have been true I absolutely understand why somebody would fight it,” he said.
“But eventually it’s not worth the fight. It doesn’t change anything for us, whether we stay like this or whether we change the new regulations.”
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