Toto Wolff has emphatically ruled out the possibility of Mercedes taking legal action as the row over its alleged compression ratio trick grows before the 2026 season opener.
The 2026 power units must be homologated on Sunday, March 1st, but there is an ongoing row over Mercedes reportedly developing a system to increase its compression ratio from the limit of 16:1 to 18:1.
Under the current regulations, the compression ratio is only measured by the FIA at ambient temperatures when the car is in the pits, with the technology not existing to measure when the car is on the track, where the use of metals which expand with heat inside the engine could increase the ratio to 18:1, thus providing the four Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP) teams with a key power advantage.
Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) was originally believed to have also developed the system, but it is now believed to have sided with Audi, Honda, and Ferrari ahead of a crunch meeting of the Power Unit Advisory Committee (PUAC).
This body is made up of the five power unit manufacturers, the FIA, and Formula One Management (FOM), with a resolution being debated to find a method to measure the compression ratio at higher temperatures.
For the PUAC to force a rule change, a supermajority of manufacturers, four of five, plus the FIA and FOM would need to be in agreement.
As it stands, the four PUMs side of the equation is believed to be in place, with the FIA keen to see a solution prior to the Australian GP on March 8th. FOM's stance is unknown.
If a solution is not found beyond the homologation deadline, Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, and Alpine could be subject to protests from the other seven teams due to their engines potentially carrying the higher compression ratio.
Addressing the media in Sakhir, Wolff explained that no matter what happened, Mercedes would not be taking legal action.
"This sport is full of surprises, so there is never a situation where you can say that you're sure about anything," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365, in Bahrain.
"Obviously, when you design an engine, you’re keeping the FIA very close to the decisions you make, and that’s what we did, and we have had all the assurances that what we did was according to the rules.
"It’s not even like we’re talking about some massive performance gain, and that’s what it was.
"But I think all of our competitors got a little bit aggrieved and lobbied the FIA for a long time, and we trust in the governance of the Power Unit Advisory Committee. We’ll see how that goes.
"There is no such scenario that we would sue anyone.
"Formula 1, in my opinion, it’s more essential than ever that you know what the rules are, but engineering ingenuity is always respected and and that’s why we are always going to respect the governance of the sport, and if the governance of the sport decides to change the rules, against or for our position, we just have to get along with it."
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Could Mercedes miss Australian GP?
If the rule change is forced through by the PUAC, owing to the time needed to redesign the engine to conform, Mercedes powered teams could be forced to sit out races until the legal engines are delivered or race under the risk of protest and disqualification.
Wolff committed Mercedes to taking the decision "on the chin", whilst adding it would be "detrimental" to the HPP teams.
"You develop an engine over a long time, and you have lead times," Wolff added.
"If you were to be told you can’t operate the engine in the way you have developed it, that could be quite damaging for the performance.
"If it becomes a regulation, you need to adhere to the regulation, and, if you can’t adhere to the regulation, then the FIA needs to come out with some kind of invention on how to adjust for that, and that’s unclear to us.
"If the governance were to vote for an engine regulation change, you just have to take it on the chin. It is what it is, and obviously, in that case, it would be detrimental for all of the Mercedes-powered teams.
"I think that the lobbying from the other engine manufacturers has massively ramped up over the last few months.
"I mean, secret meetings, secret letters to the FIA where, obviously, there’s no such thing as secret in this sport, and that has brought it to this situation.
"I’m a little bit more confused in recent weeks about how it came to the point now that it suddenly became a topic.
"Because, until last Friday, I was given the impression that things wouldn’t change."
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