Toto Wolff claims he’s not going to allow FIA to ‘tinker with rules’ over Alpine’s Renault engine saga
Toto Wolff is not pleased with Alpine looking for ways to tinker current F1 rules to help them overcome their performance deficit.
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Toto Wolff (Via IMAGO)
The Alpine F1 team has found itself in hot waters within the F1 paddock since they revealed that their engine performance is down by three percent. While much has already been said about the French team’s growing woes, Toto Wolff has indicated that he will not allow a rule change just because one team has got things wrong.
In the saga mentioned above, Toto Wolff has sided with the Maranello-based team’s Principal, Fred Vasser, and has strongly made it known that he won’t tolerate any kind of leniency toward the Alpine F1 team. He firmly believes even if their engine is slightly underperforming, they should look for ways within the current rules to make their car better.
While talking about the same in detail, he told MotorsportTotal, “We have designed the regulations so that in 2026, if one of the manufacturers can no longer reach the three percent of the best engine, we will give it more time on the test bench. We’re not talking about 2026 now, but we’re in the middle of this rule cycle and it’s true that the rules are frozen. But Fred is absolutely right, we don’t see anything even close to three percent.“
“Secondly, we cannot change the regulations on the spur of the moment just because someone is not performing. So if you want to change it for the next cycle, fine, but I think we’re in a good position at three percent. We’re certainly not going to allow them to tinker with the engine or increase the fuel flow or anything like that,” he added.
Toto Wolff has got a big job on his hands at the Mercedes team
While Toto Wolff has made it known that Alpine should not be favored in any way regarding its engine problems, he has his issues to deal with at the Brackley-based Mercedes F1 team. The outfit is in an extremely tight battle for second place in the 2023 Constructors Championship.
Mercedes has got stiff competition from the lights of Aston Martin, the Ferrari F1 team, and could also come under pressure during the dying stages of the season from the Woking-based McLare F1 team. As things stand, Lewis Hamilton and Co. are second in the Championship with 255 points.
However, Ferrari and Aston Martin are also in the 200 points category at the moment, and thus, Mercedes can’t afford to have even a single poor F1 Grand Prix weekend going forward. Mercedes has got all the resources it could ask for, and the remaining races of the ongoing season are going to be an extremely fascinating watch.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)