Toto Wolff expects “political knives” to come for Mercedes in F1 2026
Mercedes is braced for "political knives" coming its way from F1 rivals.
Mercedes is wary of “political knives” being aimed in its direction after a dominant start to the 2026 Formula 1 season.
It has been a near-perfect start for the Brackley-based squad, having claimed back-to-back one-two finishes at the Australian and Chinese grands prix.
George Russell won the season-opener in Melbourne, before Andrea Kimi Antonelli headed another Silver Arrows 1-2 in Shanghai.
The only minor blotch on Mercedes’ otherwise perfect start was a fifth place finish for Antonelli in the China sprint race, which was won by Russell.
Mercedes appears to have a clear advantage over the rest of the field, with Ferrari emerging as its nearest challenger in the first two rounds.
But team principal Toto Wolff is braced for off-track political battles to rage as Mercedes’ rivals seek to peg his team back.
"We have a good car that, at this stage, is capable of winning,” Wolff told media including Crash.net after Antonelli’s breakthrough victory in China.
"But let's see what kind of political knives are going to come out in the next few weeks and months.”
The key political battlegrounds facing Mercedes
While Wolff did not elaborate on exactly what he meant by his ‘political knives’ comment, there are several topics currently being debated he is likely referring to.
These include an evaluation of F1’s much-maligned new regulations and potential refinements to deployment and harvesting, though no significant changes are planned for the short-term.
A clampdown on compression ratios is coming from 1 June, with rivals accusing Mercedes of exploiting the wording of the engine regulations.
The change will see power units tested both in hot and cold conditions. It remains to be seen what the impact will be, with Mercedes denying it has gained an advantage from this area of the rule book.
New Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) could also enable rival teams to benefit and go some way in reigning in Mercedes’ current advantage. The first ADUO is set to come after the sixth round of the season.
Another topic of controversy relates to F1’s race-start procedure. Getaways have proven more complicated this year due to the changes to F1’s power unit regulations.
F1 responded to safety concerns raised by teams during pre-season testing by adding a five-second ‘pre-start’ procedure. However, there remain calls for further tweaks.
Ferrari is pushing back after originally raising concerns to the FIA and developing a solution to the problem.
As such, the Maranello squad is currently enjoying an advantage, with its rocket-like starts propelling Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into the lead from the second row in Australia and China respectively.
Championship leader Russell labelled Ferrari “selfish” for blocking the change, but the Italian team feels like it has already been compromised.
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