Wolff refutes shame situation after McLaren title win

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has asserted there is no shame in being beaten by a customer team to the constructors' championship.

McLaren prevailed in this year's constructors' table, ending its long title drought.

Mercedes endured a difficult campaign and ended the season in fourth place - its lowest result since 2012 - 198 points adrift of McLaren.

The German manufacturer started supplying McLaren with power units in 2021 following a six-year hiatus, with the latter also making strides with its car to top the F1 pecking order this year for the first time since 1998.

Having done so with Mercedes engines, Wolff maintained he has no issue with another team winning the title with the company's power unit.

“If we can’t win as a works team I’d much rather be beaten by a customer team,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

“I have zero problem with that, it shows us where the benchmark is.

“There are no discussions about the performance level of the engine, no discussions about driveability of the engine, energy deployment and harvesting - none of that.”

Wolff stated it is on Mercedes to build a more robust team to fight at the front of the field again.

“The world champion is our customer," added Wolff. "With equal material, we fight on the same terms, if they have better execution, better drivers, then that’s completely fine for us.

“This is a success for Mercedes motorsport,  a success for HPP, whilst we know the works team is by far the primary objective to win.”