Wolff hits back ahead of February FIA meetings

Feb.3 (GMM) Toto Wolff has sharply criticised rival teams for continuing to question the legality of Mercedes’ 2026 power unit solution, with two further FIA engine meetings scheduled this month to discuss the controversial compression topic.

Speaking to German media, Wolff made clear he sees the debate as unnecessary political noise rather than a genuine regulatory concern.

“You don’t always have to understand what competitors are doing,” the Austrian said. “That they can’t simply admit that regulations agreed with the FIA are perfectly clear in their interpretation and implementation – and yet the naysayers keep coming back saying ‘we don’t like it’.”

Wolff suggested the complaints say more about pressures elsewhere than about Mercedes’ engine.

“They have secret meetings, they send letters. I’m just saying ‘get on with your job’,” he said. “That’s what we try to do here – not focus on what others are doing and constantly complain, but make the most of what we have.”

The Mercedes team principal dismissed suggestions that the issue represents a major regulatory grey area, calling it a distraction instead.

“Perhaps they’re looking for excuses for internal stakeholder management, to claim something isn’t legal when it’s 100 percent legal,” Wolff added. “I’ve completely shut that down here because it’s a total distraction. Especially when the rules are so clearly defined.”

Rumours persist in the paddock that Red Bull-Ford may also have identified a way to increase effective compression during running, although it remains unclear whether the system is ready for use in competition.

That would potentially put Red Bull – and Max Verstappen – on the same side of the political argument, but Wolff played down any suggestion of coordination. “I don’t know what Red Bull’s latest position is,” he said.

“I also don’t know if they interpreted it the same way, so I can’t comment.”

At present, a ban for the opening 2026 season appears unlikely. However, insiders believe it remains possible that the FIA could intervene after the first year of the new engine regulations, following a familiar pattern seen with past innovations such as Mercedes’ DAS system.

According to Wolff, no such discussion has yet taken place regarding 2027.

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