Wolff shuts down critical Mercedes F1 theory

Toto Wolff has asserted Mercedes will not write off its season early with a view to 2026 if it is not as competitive as it hopes.

Mercedes has endured a trouble-filled period across the last three seasons as it took a step back in the pecking order when new technical regulations were introduced in 2022.

The current generation of cars is entering its final year before another major change for 2026 which creates the potential for the pecking order to undergo significant alterations.

While some teams may switch their entire focus to next year's car early to get a head start, Wolff asserted Mercedes will not abandon its hope for a successful 2025 campaign.

It at least started the season strongly in Australia where George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished third and fourth, although the treacherous conditions played a considerable role.

“Always when you go into the last season of a regulation, when there is such a massive step you have to keep this analysis of the balance,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

“You have to be very flexible because you could end up in a fight for a world championship or not being in an official fight for a championship.

“When it comes to switching resources into next year, we are Mercedes-Benz - we can't just say ‘We will write off the season and it’s full steam ahead for 2026’.”

Mercedes F1 car 'more predictable', declares Wolff

Mercedes walked away from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with a third and fourth place result with Russell and Antonelli respectively.

Although it marked a strong start to the campaign, Wolff acknowledged there is a large gap to overcome to be a consistent race-winner once again.

Despite the evident gap to McLaren in Melbourne, Wolff took positives from the car's behaviour compared to previous challengers.

“It is not doing enough at the moment, but you can say at least it has become more predictable and we understand the car better,” he said. 

“The car is balanced now, which the previous one didn’t have.

“And from there on, it is pretty clear what we have to do. In extracting more performance over a single lap, we look solid, the gap is much closer. 

“On long runs, our race performance, we just need to understand.”