Mercedes: Regulatory changes would be absurd

Planned for several days, an emergency meeting is expected to take place in Bahrain between Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone, and Luca di Montezemolo regarding the spectacle in Formula 1, which the Ferrari president and the FOM boss seem to find lacking.

Thus, possible regulatory changes could be discussed among the three men to make F1 more spectacular. A situation that does not commit to anything since the changes must receive the approval of all the engaged teams to be accepted.

On the side of Toto Wolff, executive director of Mercedes, there is no hesitation to openly criticize the viewpoint of certain stakeholders in the discipline: « The interesting part is that some manufacturers or certain teams are saying that we have not succeeded in making the cars efficient and fast with 100kg [of fuel], so we should try to add 10kg. »

« Well, I am sorry they did not do their job the right way. I find this entire discussion absurd, » he told our British colleagues from Autosport. « If it’s on the agenda, then we shouldn’t disparage the sport entirely. We should say: “Wait a minute, Mercedes did a better job. »

He also insisted on dismissing Luca di Montezemolo’s comments, who referred to F1 as a taxi race: I think no one had fuel consumption issues in Malaysia. There was no problem. We were going fast; all the cars were going fast. We finished with a fuel margin. So, what was said is not true. There is no fuel-saving mode. There is no taxi driving.

Wolff claims not to be against change: « We just need to understand what the fans don’t like. If it’s the noise, then we need to address the noise. »

« Have races become boring because of the dominance of one team or car? Maybe we have experienced this phenomenon over the last 20 years. Was it boring when Sebastian [Vettel] won the last nine races [in 2013]? Of course, it’s more boring if you have someone who dominates, and I also see that as a fan, » he concluded.