Drastic updates for Mercedes are impossible: 'It's just not possible'

F1 News

fred vasseur and toto wolff on updates mercedes ferrari
10 July 2023 at 20:01
Last update 10 July 2023 at 20:44
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

The days of unlimited spending in Formula 1 have been over for some time now. Since the introduction of the budget cap, F1 teams have been constantly weighing up: 'What do I spend the money on? A total overhaul of the car has simply become impossible, so changes can only be made on certain aspects.

"The cost cap is a real constraint now, because you cannot just go for a for a B-spec car," Toto Wolff said the Friday ahead of the British Grand Prix. "We know that we have we have Lewis and George being pretty vocal about what they would want to change in a car, and that's simply not possible because we are we're lacking the financial corridor, and that's why we're looking looking very much at next year to change these things."

Wolff reflects on words Lauda

The Austrian then referred to his now deceased compatriot Niki Lauda. As advisor to Mercedes, the three-time world champion always asked Wolff what was most important; the current championship or the long-term? "He would say, Both.’ So I think it's always continuing to develop those cars. It is important for our understanding at the same time you must waste resource when you go to a let's say different layout of car next year, so it's it's balancing it out, but I guess that many teams already with quite a large chunk of development into next year," Wolff said.

Fred Vasseur, Wolff's colleague at Ferrari, agreed with the Austrian's words: "The main driver of this is the cost cap, that you can't do a new project. That it was probably the case a couple of years ago, that it means that you have to adapt your project to the situation, and in these conditions, I think we did a decent step forward. You have also to consider that the regulation is much more prescriptive than before and it's quite difficult to do big step into the season, but we are as everybody we are already working on the on the project of next year trying to to correct the direction. ," Vasseur said.