Even though Red Bull and Mercedes haven’t had any major battles on the track this season, the battle off the track continues to rage on between the two. Some of the recent comments made by the Mercedes personnel have made it clear that the team hasn’t been able to move from the wounds of 2021. Now, as per a report by PlanetF1, Toto Wolff has added even more fuel to the fire, claiming that he would rather give up a championship than win it by bending the rules.
The 2021 season was controversial in more than one way. After battling it out for the title throughout the whole season, Max Verstappen managed to win the championship on the last lap of what was a highly controversial last race of the season. It was widely believed that Hamilton had been robbed off what was supposed to be his eighth championship title.
We all know that the FiA bent over backwards to stop Lewis….
Toto Wolff: “I think we probably lost the 2021 drivers’ championship for many reasons. One was the final race but we also lost it because those regulations were set in place in order to reduce the advantage that we… pic.twitter.com/YdihjlF8Ee
— The Technician (@TheTechnician44) September 10, 2023
A year later, when the controversy regarding the Abu Dhabi GP had somewhat died down, the FIA came up with a shocking revelation. Red Bull had apparently not adhered to the cost cap and had breached it during their title winning 2021 season. Even though they were punished by the FIA in the form of a financial fine and a reduction in wind tunnel testing time, the debate still rages on till this day if the punishment was severe enough for the crime.
Toto Wolff throws shade on the 2021 cost cap infringement by Red Bull
Now, Toto Wolff has indirectly referred to the whole cost cap incident and said that he would never be the one who wins a championship by breaking the rules. As per PlanetF1, Wolff said, “I would give up a championship before I break the rules in an intentional way because reputation and integrity are all today.”
#F1: Toto Wolff: “I would give up a championship before I break the rules in an intentional way. Because reputation and integrity are everything today.”
— deni (@fiagirly) September 10, 2023
He explained further, “I don’t want to be judged by a championship or two. I want the team to be judged after 20 years for whether we’ve done more things right or wrong.”
Wolff tries to be subtle while attacking Red Bull
However, Wolff revealed that he doesn’t believe in appealing to the FIA to step in and introduce new regulations to curb the Red Bull domination. Wolff believes that the onus is on the other teams to stop Red Bull’s current run of form.
Wolff said, “As a team principle, I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon that others have done in the past of saying we need to change the regulations because we can’t continue with the dominance of a team.”
He then went on to appreciate Red Bull and say that if Verstappen has managed to put himself in a level where he cannot be touched at the moment, it is through his own merit. However, the appreciation came with its own twist as Wolff mentioned that if this dominance has been achieved while adhering to the rules, then it is up to the teams to catch up with them.
