Toto Wolff makes stark admission about Mercedes’ form in current F1 era

Toto Wolff has conceded that Mercedes simply failed to “adapt” to the ground-effect regulations introduced in Formula 1 in 2022.

The German manufacturer’s dominant streak in F1 ended just over three years ago, when chassis and aerodynamic rules were significantly overhauled to place greater emphasis on underbody downforce.

While Mercedes had capitalised on F1’s previous big reset in 2014, largely thanks to its engine prowess, it missed the boat during the 2022 rule change and has struggled to recover since then.

Although still a race-winning force, its power unit customer McLaren has leapfrogged it to become F1’s new benchmark, aided by the freeze on engine development.

Mercedes at a "disadvantage" in current F1 era

Wolff explained that Mercedes began the current rules cycle on the back foot, and has found it difficult to close the gap to its rivals.

"I think we simply couldn't adapt to this rule system properly,” he admitted in an interview with Formula.hu. 

“We were at a disadvantage right from the start, and then it's terribly difficult to catch up against such great opponents.

“I'm glad we had some nice highlights, like last year at Silverstone, Lewis [Hamilton's] last win at the British Grand Prix, but we dominated Spa and absolutely dominated Las Vegas.

“Sometimes we had a winning car, like in Montreal this year, and I hope we can continue to do that for the rest of the season.”

Like most teams, Mercedes has diverted all its resources to building a new car and engine package for F1’s next big regulation revamp in 2026.

However, Wolff feels there are still valuable lessons to take from the current campaign.

"I believe that there is always something to learn and optimize in the operational area. Cost management will also be more efficient," he said.

Mercedes currently sits third in the constructors' championship on 236 points, 24 points adrift of its direct rival Ferrari.