Wolff makes ‘fascinating’ prediction after watching Mercedes’ F1 2026 challenger
The dominant team in the V6 hybrid era only to fall short as Formula 1 moved onto ground-effect aerodynamic cars, Toto Wolff has had his first look at Mercedes’ 2026 car and reckons the sport’s new era is “going to be fascinating”.
The F1 2026 season will feature a major set of regulation changes with all-new cars on the grid that feature active aerodynamics, and that will be powered by revised engines.
Mercedes team boss: “It’s going to be fascinating.”
DRS. Gone. MGU-H. Gone. Cars, lighter. Tyres, smaller.
Instead, Formula 1 will welcome ‘Overtake Mode’ and ‘Boost Mode’, power boosts in attack although ‘Overtake Mode’ will only be active in what was, in 2025, a DRS zone.
‘Active aero’ is perhaps one of the more intriguing introductions as the drivers will be able to activate the wings, front and rear, as required for corners and straights.
It is a whole new F1 world.
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But it’s one that Wolff, having seen the Mercedes W17 as it will most likely be called, in the simulator believes will be “fascinating”.
Two weeks ago, the Brackley squad said goodbye to its almost all-conquering V6 engine, the Mercedes V6 power unit winning seven Drivers’ and eight Constructors’ titles with the Mercedes F1 team before adding to its tally this past season with McLaren’s double.
But while Mercedes wasn’t able to follow up its engine’s dominance with chassis success in the ground-effect aerodynamic era, F1 2026 opens new doors.
Doors that Wolff has already had a peek inside, and what he’s seen, is “fascinating”.
“We had a very successful spell over those years, we won eight championships,” he told the team’s X account, “but we had difficult years that followed.
“And so this one era ends, an era that we will be looking back and with a lot of positive memories, mostly positive memories.
“But now we are starting in the real hybrid era.
“We are driving 50 percent electric engines with sustainable fuel, and that almost pops, gives it one notch of innovation more.
“I just came out of the simulator watching the car drive, it’s going to be fascinating.”
Mercedes has, based on 2014’s V6 engine, been widely tipped to put the best engine on the track come Australia 2026. Wolff, though, has downplayed that.
“Never confident,” he told a recent edition of the Beyond The Grid podcast.
“We are half glass, half empty people, never half full.
“It starts with the enemy in the house. McLaren has been the better team this year with a Mercedes power unit. So, if the power unit were to be superior, which we never feel entitled to say so, then you’ve got to beat Williams, you’ve got to beat McLaren and you’ve got to beat Alpine.
“As a matter of fact, some of them will have had more development time in the wind tunnel because they’ve not been placed very well in the Constructors’ championship. Some will’ve come with innovation that maybe we haven’t spotted…
“And on top of that, these rumour mills are always dangerous, because someone somewhere in another team or another power unit manufacturer, fuel supplier will think, ‘Well, we like to position you guys in a favourite role, but we’re coming’ and that’s why we’re not being carried away by any gossip that’s been discussed at the hairdresser.”
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