Toto Wolff aspires to revive the glorious era of Mercedes under the 2026 regulations for Formula 1. Following their loss in the 2021 F1 world championship, Mercedes has been facing a difficult period. They have only managed to win one race in the past two seasons under the ground-effects regulation era and remained winless in the 2023 season. As they entered this year, the team had hopes of a comeback, but unfortunately, the W15 car proved to be another subpar challenger after the first two races of the season.
During the initial race at the Bahrain GP, the drivers faced significant struggles. The car’s performance did not meet the usual Mercedes standards, and the team urgently needs to make changes. According to the team principal, a recovery before the introduction of new regulations is highly unlikely. Therefore, the team is placing its bets on the 2026 regulations and aiming to build a car as capable as the ones that propelled Lewis Hamilton to dominance from 2014 to 2020.
Wolff expressed these thoughts while discussing the potential of Mercedes becoming a suitable destination for a certain individual, emphasizing that having superior machinery would aid in attracting their services. Mercedes seems to have recognized that they cannot catch up to Red Bull under the current rules, and their best option is to patiently wait and develop better cars for the future.
Mercedes encountered a challenging start to their season with the introduction of the new W15 car. Their hopes were shattered when they faced significant issues with the car’s performance. The team is currently striving to comprehend the root cause of these problems. While addressing these issues, it was acknowledged that they have yet to identify the fundamental flaw in the car that is negatively impacting their season.
The Mercedes drivers were grappling with balance issues at various speed ranges and expressed concerns about a performance deficit at high speeds. Mercedes will need to resolve these issues in order to make a strong comeback at the Australian GP. Fortunately, the two-week break following the Saudi Arabian GP might provide sufficient time to rectify the situation.