Toto Wolff believes 'stars must align' for Mercedes to overcome major problem

Toto Wolff believes the "stars must align" for his Mercedes drivers to be competitive in F1 sessions as a long-term problem refuses to go away. 

Since the start of 2024, Mercedes has developed a trend of performance where it is strong in colder conditions, but struggles as the temperature rises. 

Its two strongest weekends in 2024 were the British Grand Prix, where George Russell and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front-row, with Hamilton winning and then in Las Vegas where Russell dominated for a one-two result. 

So far in 2025, this trend has continued with Mercedes enjoying a three-four result in the rain of Melbourne for its best two-car finish, whilst it struggled to look after its tyres in the heat of Saudi Arabia or at Imola. 

Russell is too far back to mount a serious title challenge in 2025, 75 points, three full race wins, behind championship leader Oscar Piastri after nine rounds, but the trend is one Mercedes must fix heading into the all-new '26 rules.

Reflecting, Wolff described the drivers as needing the "stars to align" as he stated the situation was simply a "fact."

"I'm formulating this very simplistically. We're still fast in the cold and slow in the hot, which you have seen last year, and our relative overperformance when the ambient [temperature was lower]," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365. 

"The drivers need to feel confident with the car. They don't at the moment, and you just need to align the stars to be at the front in qualifying.

"It is not so much about being surprised or disappointed because it's a fact. 

"We are in front of a situation that we wanted to work ourselves out. I think we had a much more decent start to the season than last year, so that is maybe the positive way of looking at things."