Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff candidly admits that his team came perilously close to breaching the budget cap in 2024. The team faced several severe crashes towards the end of the season, which also meant that no further upgrades were possible. “There was simply no more money,” reveals Wolff.
The budget cap, also referred to as the ‘budget cap’ in English, was introduced in 2021. The aim of the FIA was to bring the performances of the different teams closer together. In the first year, Red Bull breached the budget cap, but now all teams are strictly adhering to the limit. However, for Mercedes, it was a close call in 2024.
“Very close. You can’t save a big apple for a rainy day,” Toto Wolff tells Auto Motor und Sport when asked how close Mercedes came to exceeding the limit. “It’s more the case that you overshoot at the beginning of the year. And then you start saving.”
Crashes
The various major crashes in the second half of the season also caused sleepless nights for Mercedes. For instance, Andrea Kimi Antonelli parked the W15 in the barriers at Monza, while George Russell ended up off the track in both Austin and Mexico.
“At one point, we only had one set of a certain type of wing,” reveals Wolff. “By the end of the year, we had to make do without a number of upgrades in aerodynamics and mechanics. There simply was no more money to produce the associated parts.”
