Mercedes Subtly Question Ferrari Power Unit Legality, Wolff Respects FIA Integrity

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team principal Toto Wolff has called on his team to “accelerate” their development program on the 2018 car after seeing Ferrari set the benchmark with their power unit and chassis at the recently concluded British and German Grands Prix.

The Italian team, according to rivals Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, are now setting the benchmark in terms of the best power unit on the grid after they showed tremendous straight line speed during the qualifying and race in Hockenheim, Germany.

Mercedes, who previously questioned the legality of the Italian marque’s engine, doubt if they have found a loophole that allows them to unleash more power during qualifying. Wolff did not want to stir up a controversy, but subtly questioned the legality of the engine despite the FIA clearing them of any wrongdoing after investigations in Monaco and Canada.

The Silver Arrows team’s CEO made it clear they respect the integrity of the sport’s governing body and believe their competitors are unlikely to look to beat them using illegal means.

Lewis Hamilton won the race in Germany, but his triumph was aided by a driver error by Sebastian Vettel, who was comfortably leading the race before a short shower made the conditions tricky and saw him crash out with 15 laps remaining. But before that, during qualifying and the initial part of the race, the Mercedes did not have an answer to Ferrari’s pace.

The Ferrari works team are not the only one’s benefitting from their recent upgrade. Two other teams — Sauber and Haas — are also prospering with both teams consistently making the latter stages of qualifying and scoring points. Wolff urged his Mercedes team to step up their development program, as he believes it is the only way they can counter Ferrari’s threat to their dominance over the last four seasons.

"I think it's highly complex technology," Wolff said at an AMG media event outside Mercedes' headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, as quoted by ESPN. "If someone — and I'm not saying somebody is, because the fact is I don't know, we are not in anybody's engine, we are not in anybody's bodywork — but if someone were prepared to risk his reputation then there is very little possibility to police that."

"You need to rely on the integrity of people and organizations, and we do that. At the end of the day with all the skepticism and paranoia that has always existed in Formula One we rely on the integrity of the FIA, we rely on the integrity of our competitors, because that's the only way we can go racing on a Sunday," he added.

"I think what we've seen is that on racetracks that should have suited us — Silverstone and Hockenheim — they had a car that was very good on the chassis side and a power unit that was the benchmark in the field. The only reaction we can have to that is not to say 'What are they doing?' but the reaction should be 'What can we do in order to accelerate our own development program?'"

"I tell you, my mindset is really that everybody is respecting the integrity [of the regulations] because that is the only way we can go racing. If you doubt that, then the whole sport would have a problem, and I don't [doubt it]," Wolff added.