Toto Wolff not worried about cost cap breach, claims Mercedes’ 46-people financial team can monitor the expenditures ‘to the last screw’

In order to keep their spending under control, prevent skyrocketing expenses, and promote a level playing field, Formula 1 teams operate under a cost cap.The FIA put up their regulation regarding a cost cap for all the participating teams in hopes of bringing the competition closer together because earlier, the teams with massive sponsorships pooled money into research and came up with far superior cars than their much smaller rivals. Last year, the audits convicted Red Bull of going above the cost ceiling in 2021 and they were heavily penalised for it.

One of Red Bull’s biggest opponents, Mercedes, have suddenly shown a considerable improvement in their results after starting the F1 2023 season with some underwhelming scores. This has raised the question of whether the Stuttgart-based outfit has gone beyond the cost cap to fund their upgrades but Team Principal Toto Wolff noted their budget is being stringently monitored.

After Red Bull’s multi-million-dollar penalty and extensive trials with the FIA personnel, any other team would want to keep their expenses under the limit to avoid those pains. Toto Wolff commented Mercedes are also trying their best to monitor all the expenditures by employing experts. The Austrian said, “We have set up a huge organisation in our financial department of 46 people, that monitors the cost cap down to the last screw.We stayed below that line all year last year, and we’ve stayed below that line this year. Considering a normal development switch for next year, this is still pretty much on track.”

Related: Toto Wolff unveils the race where Mercedes might seize victory from Red Bull

Red Bull’s Christian Horner does not believe Mercedes can stay under the cost cap this year

Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull, was recently asked about the risks that Mercedes offers with their rapid development. He quickly dismissed it by pointing out that the team had probably already invested a significant amount of their development money in recent upgrades. In Monaco, Silver Arrows unveiled new side pods, a floor, and a front suspension. After that, they added another diffuser in Barcelona.

Speaking of the multiple upgrades that have been added to the W14 till now, Toto Wolff said, “The good thing is that we are constantly learning about what the car is doing. There are going to be some fundamental design changes for next year, but it’s not that we’re building stuff. It’s more what are we simulating – and that is not measured in money. It’s teraflops or wind tunnel hours.”

While Toto Wolff’s reassurance should be evidence enough that Mercedes are in the clear as far as the cost cap is concerned, everything will be clarified once this year’s audit is done. Red Bull’s RB-19 have proven to be in its own league in the current season, and there is enough reason to question if the team has once again put an overwhelming amount into their research and development or not. All these questions will be answered once the audit is done, but as of now, fans have their eyes pealed for the results of last year’s audit to see if they find any offenders amongst the F1 teams.

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