Toto Wolff delivers McLaren partnership quip over F1 ‘regret’

Toto Wolff delivered a comical quip that partnering with McLaren for it to become a customer Mercedes outfit was not his "most intelligent choice".

McLaren returned to being a customer outfit of the German manufacturer in 2021, following stints with both Honda and Renault. When the partnership resumed, McLaren was a midfield team, but has since risen to the front of the field. 

The Silver Arrows will continue to power McLaren until at least the end of 2030, a deal which was agreed in 2023, before the Woking-based team became so dominant.

Mercedes has become the second-quickest team powered by its engines, with McLaren somehow being able to perform in conditions where the factory squad crumbles.

"That's also hard for me to explain," Wolff told Sky Italia, discussing how McLaren has become so strong with Mercedes engines. 

"Look at where they were three, four years ago, when we signed the deal with them that they were going to use our fast engines for the next few years. Then they were 18th and it was easy to make such a decision," Wolff said.

"With the knowledge of today, I don't know if it was the most intelligent choice in my life to make that deal with them, haha. 

"They have it really well together in terms of engineering and that's why they perform so insanely well, especially in hot conditions."

Mercedes biggest strength and weakness

Once again this season, hot conditions have proved to be a major problem for Mercedes. Interestingly, it is an area where McLaren has thrived. 

On the flip side, McLaren has faced competition in cool weather, particularly from the Brackley-based outfit. 

Mercedes had the quickest car in cool conditions throughout the Canadian Grand Prix, which resulted in George Russell winning with Kimi Antonelli also on the podium.

"In Montreal we did well with cooler temperatures, but in Austria we've known for years that McLaren has it best," Wolff explained.

"Mercedes can fight for victory at one circuit, while falling more than a minute behind the next weekend - a situation the team boss describes as unacceptable.

"It remains bizarre how big the difference is between performance on different circuits and under different conditions with these ground effect cars. 

"We won in Montreal but finished a minute behind in Austria, which is unacceptable for a team and brand like us," stated Wolff.