Wolff denies F1 position amid Verstappen dominance

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has insisted Formula 1 is “still exciting” following claims that the sport is boring amid Max Verstappen’s ongoing success.

Verstappen dominated the 2022 and 2023 campaigns en route to his second and third world championships respectively.

The Dutchman has enjoyed a similarly strong start to the current campaign, scoring four pole positions and three wins in the opening four rounds.

A clean sweep of victories was denied by a brake issue in Australia that took him out of contention.

Verstappen’s early season form led Toto Wolff to declare that “no one will catch Max this year”, despite there being another 20 races to go on the schedule.

Despite being the heavy favourite for championship success, Wolff has stated there is still action to be stirred by.

“I think I wouldn’t say it like this, because the guys who are ahead are the deserving winner and I believe that we’ve seen the Ferraris more closer to him than some of the previous racers,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

“I think we can be closer to the Ferraris than we’ve shown today. It is still exciting.”

'Close between P2 and P8'

Mercedes has endured a difficult start to the season as it continues to struggle with the current generation of car that debuted in 2022.

It currently sits fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, one point ahead of Aston Martin.

With Ferrari and McLaren sitting behind Red Bull in the pecking order, Wolff asserted that the flurry of teams behind the championship leader is providing an entertaining show.

“I don’t know what the race was for you guys to watch, I’m just looking at our cars in split time so I never have a correct picture of what’s actually happening out there,” he said.

“But I believe it’s pretty close between P3 and P2 at times and P8.

“In that respect, there will be some action and we just got to push ourselves to provide a better showing and eventually challenge them.”