Wolff: “We must accept cost control”

Mercedes F1 has dominated the championship without interruption since 2014 and the establishment of Power Units, but its domination could find itself threatened by cost controls imposed by the organizers. Teams will only be able to spend $145 million (around 128 million euros) next year. The limit will be lowered to $140 million (around 124 million euros) in 2022 and $135 million (around 119 million euros) in 2023.

Faced with the economic difficulties encountered by the most modest structures, the executive director of Mercedes Motorsport Toto wolff understands the need to control costs even if these limits are unfavorable to the Silver Arrows.

“We are experiencing a financial reality that is very different from the pre-Covid period, commented the Austrian, quoted on the official F1 website. We accepted the reduction in budgets because it is essential that F1 franchises earn money rather than lose it. For us, it is also a way of ensuring that Daimler (the group that owns Mercedes) limits its costs as much as possible. This is why I think we must support such cost control. »

Mercedes F1 will, however, have to review its approach after investing hundreds of millions of dollars in its main sporting programme.

“For us, it will be a question of readjustments, changing the way we do things and deploying our staff in new areas, specified Toto Wolff. We have a very competitive department, Mercedes Benz Applied Science, which works for high performance customer products. Who knows, maybe we will look at other disciplines to keep our resources within Daimler and Mercedes? »

Cost control is a recurring problem in the world of F1. With the financial crisis due to the coronavirus, Williams has been looking for investors to avoid bankruptcy.