Toto Wolff is considering reducing the number of customer teams for Mercedes in the future. The Silver Arrows will supply engines to three teams – McLaren, Alpine, and Williams – in 2026, but they aim to reduce this number for the next F1 regulations. However, the Austrian is keeping his options open: ‘It depends on the new regulations’.
Mercedes has been supplying engines to multiple Formula 1 teams since the 1990s. Teams such as Sauber, Brawn GP, and Force India have raced with a Mercedes power unit. For the 2026 season, no less than three teams are customers of the Silver Arrows: McLaren, Alpine, and Williams. All three of these teams have a contract until 2030, which means that Mercedes will have to bring sixteen engines to the first race of the year for the time being.
If team boss Toto Wolff has his way, that number will decrease for the next regulation cycle in Formula 1. “Our current thinking, also in consultation with Ola (Källenius, Mercedes CEO), is that we will reduce the number of teams we will supply in the next cycle,” the Austrian explains in the Beyond The Grid podcast. According to Wolff, the optimal number of teams is probably “between two and three, I think”.
Honda
However, the team boss is keeping his options open. “It depends on the new regulations for the future,” says Wolff. “Are these rules quite simple or not? What can we learn by supplying more teams, while at the same time we have to finalize some designs earlier?” The team boss compares the situation at Mercedes with that of engine supplier Honda, which only supplies Aston Martin with power units in 2026. “If you, like Honda, only have one team, that’s four or five engines. That means longer lead times and longer production cycles. So considering all that, it won’t be more than four (customer teams) in the future.”
