© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says “Formula 1 is the Champions League”, and manufacturers who want to join the sport shouldn’t expect to “go straight into the final and go home with the biggest trophy”.
There is strong interest shown from large manufacturers like the Volkswagen Group to enter Formula 1 when the new power unit regulations kick in, in 2025 or 2026.
However, Toto Wolff warns that, although F1 should make it appealing for them to join the sport, they should not expect to get to the top immediately.
“It’s great we have strong OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), that are showing an interest in coming to our sport,” said the Austrian.
“Obviously none of these major car companies want to come in and face a situation where they are highly uncompetitive. Therefore we need to have systems in place that mitigate these very big risks.
“On the other side, Formula 1 is the Champions League and nobody can expect to enter the Champions League for the first time and go straight into the final and go home with the biggest trophy.
“We’ve been there a long time, invested lots of money, sweat, blood and [suffered] terrible results in order to get us where we are.
“Look at Mercedes’ history in the first five years of us being a works team, the terrible Honda days they faced, the Renault days.
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“Everybody has had to fight their way up in order to eventually win races and championships. It’s a fine balance we need to get right in order to attract newcomers as power unit manufacturers.
“Everybody needs to recognise you can’t just come and conquer, you need to give it time. In the past, that’s what many OEMs have misunderstood.
“If you look at Toyota, BMW and Honda, all the money, all the resource is irrelevant if you don’t give the project enough time.
“Everybody who joins F1 as a team or as a power unit manufacturer misunderstands this needs time. The fact that it is not easy to win makes the sport so attractive.”
Wolff also explains where the new regulations stand at this moment.
“Everybody is trying hard to get the regulations together. We all agree on the sustainability concept going forward but what needs to be defined is the detail – newcomers versus incumbents and various other parameters.
“But the global concept is clear and we are already far advanced into the discussions of the regulations, but we are not there,” concluded Mercedes’ team boss.
