Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has claimed that it is highly unlikely for a single team to dominate Formula 1 for a long time anymore. This is because of the Cost Cap regulations and the Wind Tunnel restrictions that have been introduced by the FIA.
Toto Wolff believes that a repeat of the dominance that he achieved with Mercedes is almost impossible to do again due to the changing landscape of Formula 1.
Mercedes dominated the F1 field from 2014 to 2021, winning all the Constructor’s Championships in the eight-year span. They managed to win all but one of the driver’s championships with Max Verstappen denying them the eight-year streak.
However, F1 recently introduced the Budget Cap and Wind Tunnel Restrictions which aimed at bringing the field closer. The Mercedes team principal says that this will prevent any team from dominating the field again.
Toto Wolff spoke to the media and said, “It’s a relative competition, and we know who our competitors are today, there will be others tomorrow and after tomorrow because of the cost cap limits that have been set, and this is what the sport should be, not one team, not three, but maybe five [in title contention], and the landscape has changed.“
“I don’t think that anybody will run away with eight championships in a row going forward, and this is the way the regulations have been designed,” he explained.
Toto Wolff believes that teams further down the grid have an advantage due to the regulations
The recent success that has been enjoyed by Mercedes means that they have been given the Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions. The number of restrictions is decided inversely to the teams finishing position in the championship.
Mercedes finished third in the 2022 season. This means that they will be allotted 80 percent of the total wind tunnel time. This means they will have 256 wind tunnel runs.
Read More: Toto Wolff Believes That the 2022 Downfall Was Necessary For Mercedes
As for Ferrari, they finished second in 2022, which gives them 75 percent of the total wind tunnel time. Red Bull will get a measly 63 percent of the total time, having had their wind tunnel allowance further reduced due to their cost cap breach.
Toto Wolff explained that the way the regulations are currently, the teams at the back of the grid can use the extra wind tunnel time to get a jump on the teams ahead.
