Wolff: “The last few years have not been a total failure”

The golden years Since the introduction of the new technical regulations in Formula 1, dating back to 2022, Mercedes has no longer managed to seriously enter into the fight for the Drivers’ or Constructors’ title, putting an end to its golden period which lasted from 2014 to 2021. In all those years, the Brackley company had in fact dominated the scene with the sole exception of 2021, the season in which, at the last race, Max Verstappen won the championship at the end of an Abu Dhabi GP that went down in history for its controversial finish. The collapse Since then, only Red Bull and McLaren have risen to the top of the world, with the Anglo-German company still winning some races. Yet, despite this collapse in competitiveness, the lack of titles cannot be judged as a serious defeat for the team, as firmly reiterated by Team Principal Toto Wolff: “We didn’t manage to win a world championship, but it was a second, third, fourth, second place. It’s not a total failure – he explained to the media while waiting for the 2026 season – if you look at these statistics over 20 years, they seem solid and respectable, but obviously now there’s nothing to be happy about, because there has always been a team that has been much ahead in all these four years.” One problem at a time Wolff then took the team’s defense, analyzing what prevented the creation of a complete package to fight for the top positions with continuity: “We started badly at the beginning trying to solve one problem at a time – he continued – while we tried to solve those problems, new ones arose, and we were never able to understand them. We had false hopes and many theories, but never one that would give us an advantage to fight for the world championship. Our competitors simply did a better job. Look at McLaren and how we revolutionized the car three years ago. Then look at Red Bull, which has had its ups and downs. What has happened since the summer is clearly an understanding, or at least an example, of how we can discover what doesn’t work and radically turn a season around.