Toto Wolff is 'absolutely conscious' of emerging threat to Mercedes F1 titles

Toto Wolff says he is "absolutely conscious" of Mercedes falling foul of a Max Verstappen-style comeback in the 2026 title race amid McLaren's resurgence.

Although Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' standings by 59 points from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, and 83 from the McLaren of Lando Norris, the reigning champions emerged from the races in Hungary and the Netherlands with two wins and renewed hope of reeling in Antonelli and Mercedes to defend their crowns. 

In 2025, Verstappen of Red Bull found himself 104 points behind Oscar Piastri after the Dutch GP, but embarked on a stunning end to the season, and overhauled the Australian, but ultimately fell just two points short of stealing the drivers' title from Norris.

After the Zandvoort race, Wolff explained that Mercedes simply did not 'have the money' to spend on upgrades at the rate of McLaren or Ferrari, with the team operating within the "financial realities" of the cost cap, with the last big upgrade being delivered at the Canadian GP in May. 

In the constructors' standings, Mercedes leads Ferrari by 87 points and McLaren by 162, with Wolff addressing the prospect of a Verstappen-style comeback from Norris in the drivers' fight. 

"Yeah, I mean, absolutely conscious of the fact, but it is not only Norris, but we also have a [59]-point gap to Lewis," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365, when asked about the renewed threat posed by McLaren. 

"That's something you need to be worried about, so it is going to be tough, and it could become tighter.

"We just need to do the optimum job every single weekend, every single session, every single weekend.

"We have opposition that is good enough to win races, and they've done two now on tracks where they've been very, very good in the previous years also, so let's see if we can regain some momentum."