Toto Wolff recalls “are we morons?” moment which led to Mercedes F1 turnaround

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has recalled an amusing story where the team questioned “are we morons” when trying to rediscover their old form in F1.

Since the start of the new regulations in 2022, it’s been tough for Mercedes to consistently challenge at the front of F1.

Prior to George Russell’s win at the Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes had won just once since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton hasn’t stood on the top step since Saudi Arabia during his infamous title battle against Max Verstappen.

Mercedes adopted a unique car concept in 2022, particularly with their sidepod design.

While the 2022 F1 car had a lot of downforce, Mercedes didn’t factor in the ground effect aspect of the rules and the bouncing too much downforce would cause.

Mercedes surprisingly didn’t alter their car concept for the following year, making it another underwhelming campaign even if they did beat Ferrari to second in the constructors’ championship.

2024 started even worse with no podium finishes up until the Canadian Grand Prix in July.

However, finally, Mercedes appear to be on the right track with a front wing upgrade in Monaco turning their season around.

Russell returned to winning ways in Austria, and while it was in fortuitous circumstances, he was on course to finish third on merit.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Wolff recounted a staff meeting with technical director James Allison.

Allison put on a slideshow in front of the senior staff members “are we morons” - and Wolff labelled that moment the key period when they started to understand this current set of regulations.

“James is good with strong words,” Wolff said. “He put it on a big slide in an all-staff meeting - ‘are we morons?’ The next slide was ‘yes’ and ‘no’. That was a moment where the team made a big step in understanding what was wrong with our development in this new generation of cars.

“I would be the first to say I was a moron. There were many moments in the past few years where I could have been better than I was.”