Following the introduction of the 2022 F1 regulation, Mercedes have not been at their usual best. The team that won back-to-back eight Constructors’ championships is barely a shadow of their past. Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, after almost two years of underperformance, revealed to SilverArrows.net, why they began to struggle in the first place.
The Brackley-based team has been absolutely dominant from 2014 to 2020. However, from the beginning of the 2021 season, they began to see stiff resistance from Red Bull. In the end, the Austrian team claimed the Drivers’ championship that year, and from there on, they never looked back to this day.
Therefore, Wolff, who is already angry at the FIA for their role at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, revealed that it was the governing body that played an active part in curbing their dominance. A blow from which they are yet to recover from.
Toto Wolff blames FIA for their utter downfall from 2021
As Toto Wolff already vented out his frustration at the FIA for their 2021 Abu Dhabi GP loss, he also mentioned how the governing body brought out a regulation that cut the floor out. He mentioned that the FIA has done it to stop them.
Talking about this, the Mercedes boss revealed, “2020 was a super dominant year for us, I think the best car we’ve ever had, but then towards the end of the season, they changed the regs by cutting the floor out, and that was to stop us.”
November 1st, 2020:
Mercedes scored a one-two with Hamilton and Bottas at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and won their 7th World Constructors’ Championship. pic.twitter.com/s1WgZcGGCC
— Osservatore Sportivo (@OsOfficialF1) November 1, 2022
Nevertheless, the German team is showing signs of improvement coming into 2022. They not only won podiums but also took a pole that too against the mighty Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
Mercedes getting back on top, slowly and steadily
After the new regulations were introduced in 2022, Mercedes began their season in a shocking state. They forgot how to win a race as winning a podium became a far cry for them.
Nevertheless, they finally won a race in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, and it is the only Non-Red Bull win in F1 to this day since Charles Leclerc’s Austrian GP win last year.
However, the 2023 season began with a spark as the Brackley-based team managed to come back strongly. They overcame their P3 in the Constructors’ championship from last year and are standing strongly in P2 this year with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell spearheading their attack.
