Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff tells rivals: ‘Get your s*** together’
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has accused rival teams of looking for excuses before the season has even begun amid murmurings about the legality of their new engine.
Ferrari, Honda and Audi are said to have raised objections about the power unit, which is set to be used not only by Mercedes but also McLaren, Alpine and Williams. Red Bull’s first in-house engine is also in the spotlight, according to reports.
“Just get your s*** together,” Wolff said. “Doing secret meetings and sending secret letters and trying to invent ways of testing that don’t exist… I can say, from us here, that we are trying to minimise distractions.
“But maybe we are all different? And maybe you want to find excuses before you have started? Everybody needs to do things to the best of their ability, but that is not how we do things, especially when we have been told it is fine and legal.”
The row comes after teams tested their 2026 cars – the first following major changes to Formula 1 engine regulations – in Barcelona last week.
Mercedes engine green lit by FIA, says Wolff
At the centre of it are questions about whether Mercedes have used a loophole in the new rules to increase the compression ratio and gain a vital boost.
But Wolff said: “The power unit is legal and corresponds to how the regulations are written, and corresponds to the checks, and how they are measured. That is what [governing body] the FIA has said, and what the president of the FIA [Mohammed Ben Sulayem] has said.
“I just don’t understand why some teams concentrate more on others and keep arguing a case that is very clear and transparent.
“Communication with the FIA was very positive all along and it was not only on compression ratio but on other things, too. And it is very clear what the regulations say, and very clear what the standard procedures are.”
F1 teams are set to step up their pre-season testing in Bahrain next month ahead of the first race of the season, in Melbourne on 8 March.