Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is not at all bothered that customer team McLaren has beaten the German racing stable in the constructors’ championship. Mercedes itself came fourth, behind Red Bull, while the team from Woking won the championship for the first time in 26 years. “This is a success for Mercedes Motorsport,” says Wolff.
During the early years of the hybrid era in Formula 1, Mercedes was almost unbeatable, but in recent seasons, it has had to watch other racing stables take away the constructors’ title. This year, it was even McLaren, a customer team of the German racing stable, that won the title for the first time since 1998.
Team boss Toto Wolff, however, sees McLaren’s victory as a win for Mercedes as well. “If we can’t win as a factory team, I’d much rather be beaten by a customer team,” the Austrian tells the media. “I have no problem with that, it shows us where the benchmark is.”
‘Success for Mercedes’
The team from Woking has been driving with Mercedes engines since 2021. “The world champion is our customer,” Wolff continues. “With equal material, we fight on the same terms, if they have a better execution, better drivers, then that’s fine with us.” The team boss even dares to claim a small part of the McLaren title for Mercedes. “This is a success for Mercedes Motorsport, a success for HPP (the engine department of Mercedes), while we know that the most important goal for the factory team is to win.
