© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says the 2021 rule changes that favour high-rake cars have hindered Mercedes, but doesn’t accuse the FIA of doing it on purpose.
The 2021 rule changes hit Mercedes pretty hard, as the team had been running a low-rake concept for a long time, and it was impossible to make the switch to a high-rake concept on short notice.
This led to speculation that the changes were made to slow Mercedes down. While Toto Wolff agrees his team has been negatively impacted by the changes, he isn’t going so far as to say it was done on purpose.
“That’s not true, this rule was not voted on, it was introduced for safety reasons and it was very likely from the start that the ‘low-rake’ cars would be punished by it,” the Austrian told Motorsport-Total.
“The effects were enormous. By comparing Bahrain 2020 against Bahrain 2021, you can see very well that there are major shifts but that’s the way it is now, the decision was made that way.
“You have to look ahead, but at the same time make sure that the system and the leadership of the sport are robustly positioned for the future.”
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Another team that suffers under the new rules is Mercedes’ customer team Aston Martin. Considering its close ties to Mercedes, many have suggested that the British team is essentially functioning as a ‘B-team’, but Wolff will have none of it.
“Aston Martin is a car manufacturer with an iconic brand and a relationship with Mercedes. The Formula 1 team is based on a completely different shareholder structure.
“Aston Martin is our partner if you are a customer, buy power units from us, use our wind tunnel and some of the components, it is within the rules. The relationship is very strong.
“So people will come back to it over and over again because they believe we are taking advantage of it,” concluded Wolff.
