Toto Wolff delivers 'complete losers' claim after Mercedes achieve rare feat

Toto Wolff has dispelled the notion that Mercedes were "complete losers" during its lean period in the contemporary ground-effect era of F1.

Having won eight consecutive drivers' championships and seven drivers' titles between 2014 and 2021, the German marque entered a relatively barren patch during the previous generation of cars.

The team was unable to fully grasp the regulations and never truly looked like challenging the supremacy of Red Bull and later McLaren.

With the dawn of a new ruleset this season, Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden crown, and Mercedes clinched a ninth constructors' championship.

Reflecting on a comparatively meagre few years, Wolff underlined how trying the campaigns between 2022 and 2025 were for the Brackley-based squad.

"When you're in these difficult moments, like we all are sometimes in our lives, it's not that easy to keep going," the Mercedes team principal told media, including RacingNews365.

"Because looking back in retrospect, you're saying, 'Well, yeah, we needed these tough moments in order to grow as people or to grow as an organisation', but when you're down, that is quite difficult to feel.

"So looking back, I think those last four years were very difficult, between getting it wrong and then understanding why it was wrong, and then realising, 'No, we didn't understand', and that was a big back and forth."

[Article continues below]

Achieving a rare feat

However, despite the difficulties faced, Wolff was keen to stress that it was not all bad for the team, and that those working for Mercedes were not "complete losers", having taken seven victories across the four campaigns.

He added: "But we will be looking back in 10 or 20 years, and when you look at the statistics, it wasn't that we were complete losers over those four years, because we finished third, second, fourth and second...

"We won races, won many races, so it wasn't that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers, but it felt not good.

"And the resilience of the team, the people that held together in those tough times, is a factor."

Wolff was also quick to point out how unusual it is for a sports dynasty to fall, endure hardship and recover to winning ways.

"So it feels really good sealing those two titles," he said. "Not many sports teams have done that after a consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell, and then coming back.

"I'm really proud that we are part of this very small group of teams that have done that in all sports."