Toto Wolff opines on Volkswagen increasing Formula 1’s credibility
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Toto Wolff
The world of Formula 1 has seen an increase in its popularity in the recent years. It is no secret that one of the major reasons for this is the Netflix series ‘Drive To Survive’. This series has helped Formula 1 increase its viewership and fanbase in multi fold. One of the primary beneficiaries from this popularity levels are the teams contesting in Formula 1 as it helps them attract more sponsorship deals. The whole sport of Formula 1 is based around money, as high amount of team funds translates directly into a better race car.
Currently in Formula 1, only four engine suppliers exist, Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. This has led to dominance by power of a single engine manufacturer in the previous years. Mercedes are the ones who managed to produce the strongest package with the highest horsepower repeatedly as they acquired 8 constructor’s world championships. Formula 1 has had strict rules and regulations priorly over the manufacturing on an engine, which has discouraged many manufactures to enter the sport. However, in a new era where rules and regulations have massively changed, has resulted in big manufacture names speculated to enter Formula 1.
Mercedes, team principal Toto Wolff exclaims Volkswagen’s Entry Terms Blurry
The Volkswagen group contains famous names under its umbrella such as Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, etc. With the sport seeing departure of the Honda team, Porsche and Audi are anticipated to join forces with Red Bull and Mclaren team respectively. Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff expressed his view saying “It’s great if the Volkswagen Group joins F1. Fantastic brand, it increases the credibility of what we do. And they are racers. But as far as I understand, there is no firm commitment yet.”
The German boss, Toto Wolff further added “They’ve been sitting on the table for the regulations, but that commitment isn’t actually confirmed, we can’t really know what the plans are. I think that it’s not clear yet who actually enters as a power unit supplier and who declares themselves as newcomers. It could well be that there are three companies from the same group that are entering as newcomers. How can I say? The picture is still very unclear.”
The prospect shown by additional power unit manufactures towards the sport is a step in right direction for Formula 1. In 2026, Formula 1 would see removal of MGU-H from the engines, which is an attractive timeline for many of these big manufacture names, like Volkswagen to enter the sport.
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Anish Arora
(130 Articles Published)