2025 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[avantman]

So this year we won’t be writing posts about Wolff and Allison’s need to step down from the team like last year?

Wolff should be playing better politics to stop the Mclarens. Where is the guy from 2021 and 2022 that had the FIA at his feet? He may have made a good move to sign Antonelli, but he can do more. It’s not enough.

Doesn't make sense for him to do that at this moment in time. He wants to sign Max first. If he stops Mclaren right now, why would Max move? He would stay at red bull.

[AR3-GP]

So this year we won’t be writing posts about Wolff and Allison’s need to step down from the team like last year?

Wolff should be playing better politics to stop the Mclarens. Where is the guy from 2021 and 2022 that had the FIA at his feet? He may have made a good move to sign Antonelli, but he can do more. It’s not enough.

Doesn't make sense for him to do that at this moment in time. He wants to sign Max first. If he stops Mclaren right now, why would Max move? He would stay at red bull.

Nothing to do with that.

“I think that the team around Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella], Rob Marshall… these are good people with integrity,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Miami.

“If in the past, [we] often say: ‘Well, let’s look at whether there’s something borderline’, but I have no doubt that these guys [McLaren] stay within the rules.

“It’s just really good development [with] that car. They’ve understood how to manage the tyre much better than everybody else and, in my opinion, it’s totally legit.”

“Also,” he continued, “from a team management point of view, we should never when somebody is doing a better job than you, we should not look at that and say ‘cheating’, because that’s not the right attitude anyway.

“So we just need to become better, and eventually not get 30 or 35 seconds over 55 laps.”

1) Mclaren cheated with Mini-DRS and got off lightly. “Integrity”. Believes a team leading by a mile would never be playing in the gray even though his own team was burning oil in their engine, and Mclaren already showed a pattern of playing in the gray.

2) Rob Marshall is a long time Red Bull man…known to be one for the gray areas, but now Toto Wolff is singing his praises about integrity (lol).

3) He spent most of 2021 and 2022 having wing, floor, and pitstop regs changed because he thought Red Bull and Ferrari were cheating. But now it’s not okay to suspect anyone of anything.

4) This is the Mclaren team that he is simping about "integrity" for:

Zak Brown:

“The goal is to make ourselves as fast as possible, but there’s also a strategy of destabilising the competition. We try to create tension or disrupt other teams, which isn’t unique to F1 but is particularly pronounced here.

“You’re constantly fighting for employees, drivers, sponsors, and media attention plays a big role. If you can generate some instability in rival teams – and it doesn’t always work in our favor – it can slow them down while we focus on speeding up.”

What happened to this man? He is unrecognizable. I don’t buy that it’s an elaborate shell game to make another driver come to his team. It has nothing to do with that. Maybe he is also past his prime…

[Tonino]

So this year we won’t be writing posts about Wolff and Allison’s need to step down from the team like last year?

Wolff should be playing better politics to stop the Mclarens. Where is the guy from 2021 and 2022 that had the FIA at his feet? He may have made a good move to sign Antonelli, but he can do more. It’s not enough.

That guy doesn't exist anymore. It's not that he doesn't care, it's just that his priorities have shifted, and he's more relaxed about life and F1 now. He’s not the same guy who was all about winning at all costs and getting down and dirty with the opposition.

He’s talked about how he’s not as obsessed with it all anymore, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t stick around as TP after his contract ends in 2026. His son just started his karting career, and Toto’s mentioned he wants to be really involved in that, which I totally get. Don’t expect the old Toto to come back.

[Quantum]

1) Mclaren cheated with Mini-DRS and got off lightly. “Integrity”. Believes a team leading by a mile would never be playing in the gray even though his own team was burning oil in their engine, and Mclaren already showed a pattern of playing in the gray.

2) Rob Marshall is a long time Red Bull man…known to be one for the gray areas, but now Toto Wolff is singing his praises about integrity (lol).

3) He spent most of 2021 and 2022 having wing, floor, and pitstop regs changed because he thought Red Bull and Ferrari were cheating. But now it’s not okay to suspect anyone of anything.

4) This is the Mclaren team that he is simping about "integrity" for:

1) The mini DRS was legal and required a rewording of the rules along with new static tests. Every single test was passed. That's ingenuity. Newey got tons of credit for that.

2) Guilt by association?

3) As if porpoising never existed.

4) Can there be a world where one team boss congratulates another for a job well done in turning a team around rather than making accusations every weekend because they're not winning? Is this simping?

[AR3-GP]

1) Mclaren cheated with Mini-DRS and got off lightly. “Integrity”. Believes a team leading by a mile would never be playing in the gray even though his own team was burning oil in their engine, and Mclaren already showed a pattern of playing in the gray.

2) Rob Marshall is a long time Red Bull man…known to be one for the gray areas, but now Toto Wolff is singing his praises about integrity (lol).

3) He spent most of 2021 and 2022 having wing, floor, and pitstop regs changed because he thought Red Bull and Ferrari were cheating. But now it’s not okay to suspect anyone of anything.

4) This is the Mclaren team that he is simping about "integrity" for:

1) The mini DRS was legal and required a rewording of the rules along with new static tests. Every single test was passed. That's ingenuity. Newey got tons of credit for that.

2) Guilt by association?

3) As if porpoising never existed.

4) Can there be a world where one team boss congratulates another for a job well done in turning a team around rather than making accusations every weekend because they're not winning? Is this simping?

1) Naive. It was bang out of order to open the DRS flap outside of the DRS zones. FIA just didn't want to defame one of their teams. They even let Mclaren tell the world that it was the goodness of their (Mclaren) hearts that made them remove it.

2) Every team is guilty of something. I'm not naive. So Toto waxing about Mclaren like they've found god and operate differently to every other F1 team of the past is just hilarious, especially with Rob Marshall and his fleximen running loose in the halls of Woking.

3) They were still bouncing in 2023.

4) I know what Mclaren have done but let's not play pretend and talk about integrity. There's no integrity in Formula 1. It's just what can you get away with before anyone wises up. Mclaren has a long history of flying too close to the sun. They make even the silvers look squeaky clean

[Matt2725]

So this year we won’t be writing posts about Wolff and Allison’s need to step down from the team like last year?

Still time. Interesting to see if people are still ‘happy’, if Mercedes go the entire season without a win, which there is a good chance.

Unless they figure out what McLaren are up to, then it's not likely they'll win anything unless we have a cool track when McLaren's advantage will likely disappear.

[AR3-GP]

Unless they figure out what McLaren are up to, then it's not likely they'll win anything unless we have a cool track when McLaren's advantage will likely disappear.

Japan, China, and Australia? What did Mercedes win or even come close to winning on a cool track where Mclaren's advantage "dissappeared" (it didn't).

There are no cool tracks in the months of May-September either…

Merc’s best chance is the Mclaren drivers doing a Spain 2016. #4 is starting to get frustrated.

[Quantum]

1) Naive. It was bang out of order to open the DRS flap outside of the DRS zones. FIA just didn't want to defame one of their teams. They even let Mclaren tell the world that it was the goodness of their (Mclaren) hearts that made them remove it.

2) Every team is guilty of something. I'm not naive. So Toto waxing about Mclaren like they've found god and operate differently to every other F1 team of the past is just hilarious, especially with Rob Marshall and his fleximen running loose in the halls of Woking.

3) They were still bouncing in 2023.

4) I know what Mclaren have done but let's not play pretend and talk about integrity. There's no integrity in Formula 1. It's just what can you get away with before anyone wises up. Mclaren has a long history of flying too close to the sun. They make even the silvers look squeaky clean

1) Nope, neither naive nor cheating. They passed the tests, and if they didnt then it would be deemed illegal and unfit to race. This is F1, not the holy papacy of moral judgement.
If FIA arent happy they can change the way they test and measure, which they now have.

2} It's not what you think, it's what you can prove. Toto commending McLaren and how they turned their operations around is pretty spot on. They were adrift a little over 12 months ago. I don't see what's hilarious about it. Many teams could do with that right now.

3) They were bouncing in 2021 too. Far less in 2023 than 2022 is the point.

4) It's F1 mate, here be monsters. But calling foul because Toto hasn't encompassed every single metric of McLaren history in their transformation....man that's a proper stretch

[AR3-GP]

1) Naive. It was bang out of order to open the DRS flap outside of the DRS zones. FIA just didn't want to defame one of their teams. They even let Mclaren tell the world that it was the goodness of their (Mclaren) hearts that made them remove it.

2) Every team is guilty of something. I'm not naive. So Toto waxing about Mclaren like they've found god and operate differently to every other F1 team of the past is just hilarious, especially with Rob Marshall and his fleximen running loose in the halls of Woking.

3) They were still bouncing in 2023.

4) I know what Mclaren have done but let's not play pretend and talk about integrity. There's no integrity in Formula 1. It's just what can you get away with before anyone wises up. Mclaren has a long history of flying too close to the sun. They make even the silvers look squeaky clean

1) Nope, neither naive nor cheating. They passed the tests, and if they didnt then it would be deemed illegal and unfit to race. This is F1, not the holy papacy of moral judgement.
If FIA arent happy they can change the way they test and measure, which they now have.

2} It's not what you think, it's what you can prove. Toto commending McLaren and how they turned their operations around is pretty spot on. They were adrift a little over 12 months ago. I don't see what's hilarious about it. Many teams could do with that right now.

3) They were bouncing in 2021 too. Far less in 2023 than 2022 is the point.

4) It's F1 mate, here be monsters. But calling foul because Toto hasn't encompassed every single metric of McLaren history in their transformation....man that's a proper stretch

3) I don’t remember bouncing in ‘21. It’s a ground effect phenomena.

4) “here be monsters”. LOL, yes all of them. I’m not calling “foul”, I’m saying the opposite. He’s no longer the villain that he once was and that villain would be useful today. I’m just offering an opinion. I feel Toto has gone soft. Tonino offered a reasonable explanation of why that might be.

[FittingMechanics]

Only one who got caught with a cheating device is Red Bull. Their bib adjustment from inside the cockpit was exactly that, a device that could be used secretly to make changes during parc ferme. They were not caught using it, but the ability to cheat existed and FIA had to seal the adjustment and then ask Red Bull to remove it from the car.

Mini DRS while it may be pushing the limits of what is legal was not illegal at the time it was raced. There is clear video evidence of it in action so if it was cheating the car would be disqualified. FIA then made changes to the rules and clarified that it will no longer be allowed.

[Quantum]

3) I don’t remember bouncing in ‘21

4) “here be monsters”. LOL. I’m not calling “foul” I’m not here to arrest the man. I’m just offering an opinion. I feel Toto has gone soft. Tonino offered a reasonable explanation of why that might be.

3) Car's have always bounced but for a variety of differing reasons. The degree varies. and 2022 was worse than 2023. Which was my point.

4) We won't know until Merc get back to winning ways. Toto looks like a man that knows what's coming, and doesn't need to make noise if he doesn't have to. What's the point in a team boss making a fool of themselves with silly accusations and whining every weekend because another team did a better job, right?

[AR3-GP]

3) I don’t remember bouncing in ‘21

4) “here be monsters”. LOL. I’m not calling “foul” I’m not here to arrest the man. I’m just offering an opinion. I feel Toto has gone soft. Tonino offered a reasonable explanation of why that might be.

3) Car's have always bounced but for a variety of differing reasons. The degree varies. and 2022 was worse than 2023. Which was my point.

4) We won't know until Merc get back to winning ways. Toto looks like a man that knows what's coming, and doesn't need to make noise if he doesn't have to. What's the point in a team boss making a fool of themselves with silly accusations and whining every weekend because another team did a better job, right?

4) Mercedes engine will be very good, but Toto is allowing Mclaren to have it. He never allowed Newey to have a Mercedes engine. As long as Mclaren continue doing whatever they are doing now, Mercedes won’t be fighting them in 2026 either.

I don’t think Mclaren is doing anything “illegal” but that’s not what politics is about…Toto has leveraged his ability to change the playing field in the past, simply to disrupt the opposition. It just about playing to the media. It’s what you can get done behind closed doors. That’s what he always did before.

[Quantum]

4) Mercedes engine will be very good, but Toto is allowing Mclaren to have it. He never allowed Newey to have a Mercedes engine. As long as Mclaren continue doing whatever they are doing now, Mercedes won’t be fighting them in 2026 either.

I don’t think Mclaren is doing anything “illegal” but that’s not what politics is about…Toto has leveraged his ability to change the playing field in the past, simply to disrupt the opposition. It just about playing to the media. It’s what you can get done behind closed doors. That’s what he always did before.

We'll see about 2026 in 2026.

Mercedes are no opposition to McLaren in 2025 man, cmon.
Merc will get their Imola update and that will be that for the year. Rightly.
If any lessons can be gleaned from this year will be finding out how McLaren are keeping their rubber optimal in hard fast usage with no degradation or performative drop off. Play around with that for 2025, sure.
But the focus must be 2026 because a team boss bleating/whining about 2025 when there's 6 months left of the season and the rulebook gets thrown away is pointless....Especially when the other guy is passing test after test.
Like at some point you just have to say, good job Macca.

[FittingMechanics]

Mercedes may think they know the "trick", so Toto is not accusing as he wants Mercedes to take advantage of it as well.

Maybe Williams as well. Their improvement from last year is quite remarkable as well.

[AR3-GP]

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