“Formula 1 needs variability and unpredictability” – Toto Wolff on Mercedes dominance in turbo-tybrid era

“Formula 1 needs variability and unpredictability” – Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is motivated by various regulation changes believed to stop their dominance in the sport.

Mercedes have won everything since the turbo-hybrid era began in 2014, an unprecedented success in Formula 1. With Red Bull and Max Verstappen providing able competition this season, there is genuine hope that the dominance could be curtailed.

All 👀 on Baku… Back on track in one week, Team! 💪 pic.twitter.com/eNaBwoPHew

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 28, 2021

Then there is the regulation change from next season, which along with the budget cap could open up the playing field for the titles. Toto Wolff, however, is ready for the challenge and committed to keeping Mercedes on the top of the podium. The Mercedes boss said all this and much more in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“It is difficult to motivate a team that has had so much success to be even better every year. You can see that in other sports as well. You always have to ask yourself what the new goal is.

“The next rule change…it helps enormously. We want to prove across the changes that you can’t slow us down. We’ve managed since 2014 to keep competing for and winning titles in 2017 and 2019 despite all the rule changes.

“Even for this year, there was another change [to the regulations] with the aim of changing the order of the standings. They cost us a lot of performance in absolute terms and especially relative to other teams. We lost about five or even more tenths of a second per lap.

“That’s a fact. I understand that the rights holder of Formula One always has an interest in offering a championship that is as competitive as possible. It’s not good for anyone that the same team with the same driver dominates for years.

Formula 1, like any top sport, needs variability and unpredictability. It would be best if the World Championship was decided by a one-point difference in the last race.

“We take this attempt to slow us down sportingly. We now have to make the best of it. In a way, we needed it to be able to set new goals.”

Read more “It’s mega to see a real fight on track” – Alex Albon delighted with Mercedes and Red Bull title fight

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Subham Jindal

A Red - be it Manchester United or Ferrari. Hails from the hills of Kalimpong, Darjeeling. Aspiring to become a respected Sports Management professional.

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