Wolff: 'It's what we want F1 to be, but we can look pretty poor'

After Mercedes dominated the Formula 1 scene from 2014 to 2020, it has all unravelled for the German team. The change in regulations for the 2022 season meant the Silver Arrows struggled with 'porpoising', and then in 2023, their failed experiment with the 'sidepodless' car meant in 2024, they were far behind the leading pack. Now, with Lewis Hamilton leaving for Ferrari, two key personnel from Mercedes will join the Italian team in 2025. Toto Wolff spoke about it after FP3 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

In between the Miami Grand Prix and the first European Grand Prix of the season at the iconic Imola track, Mercedes lost three key team leaders. Both performance director Loic Serra and driver development directory Jerome d'Ambrosio will join Hamilton at Ferrari for the 2025 season. Along with this, chief aerodynamicist Gioacchino Vino will leave the German team, leaving a big dent in their team.

"We were in a really good spot before," started team boss Wolff. "Then, it started to deteriorate. And part of that is also the human component, and I think how it's shaping up now, some wanted to go, some also had to go at the same time."

But even with these major losses to the team, Wolff was positive that the Silver Arrows would come out of this tricky period better off. "However, we have new people joining us, and all of that is with the leadership of James, who does that so well. He's such an inspiration for the team. I feel we're in a really upward trajectory with the motivation, the energy, and the competence."

The Austrian also acknowledged how brutal and competitive F1 is at the moment: "I think we didn't particularly spend a lot of time talking about the current times, but it seems like it's the most competitive it has ever been in terms of the teams together. You look at Formula One in a different way these days. It's just so competitive. There are ten good teams and three-tenths off. Two years ago, you would have been third, and fourth is where we were. Three-tenths off now can be seventh and eightth. And it's what we wanted to be, what Formula One should be. But you can look pretty poor. You're not getting it together."