Toto Wolff warns F1 rule tweaks must change "with scalpel, not a baseball bat”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has warned that any tweaks to the Formula 1 rules must be made “with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat”.

Key F1 figures including teams and engine manufacturers will meet virtually on Monday to discuss with series chief executives and governing body the FIA how the much-maligned 2026 rules can be improved.

The move to a near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power has led to increased emphasis on energy management in both qualifying and the races, something that has been heavily criticised by fans and drivers alike. Safety concerns have also been raised about dramatic closing speed differences following Ollie Bearman’s terrifying 50G crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

A series of key meetings are taking place during F1’s enforced April break with the hope that agreement on changes to improve the regulations can be reached.

“I must really say that the discussions that have been taking place between the group of drivers, the FIA, Formula 1, and the teams has been constructive, and we all share the same objectives,” Wolff told media including Crash.net ahead of Monday's crunch meeting. 

“It’s how can we improve the product, make it out-and-out racing, and look at what can we improve in terms of safety. But act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat.

“I think we're coming to good solutions that we're going to ratify hopefully today in order to evolve, because it's only three races in. And in a way, we need to learn from the past where sometimes decisions were made in an erratic way, and then we overshot and realised it wasn't good.

“We are custodians of this sport, and in that respect, I am carefully optimistic that we're going to align [on] the aforementioned objectives whilst keeping the racing really good.”

When asked if there is any concern that the proposed tweaks might not go far enough, and could lead to further amendments later down the line, Wolff replied: “I think that if you have aligned objectives, you define those objectives at the beginning.

“That is ‘how can we work on making qualifying more spectacular, enjoyable for the drivers? How can we tackle safety objectives? And at the same time protect what's really good within the racing, the overtaking.

“That's why those steps look like they are in the right direction - not overshooting, not undershooting, but if you come to the conclusion further down the line that we need to maybe redefine the objectives and so be it. But at the moment, I think that's carved out in a pretty clear way and that's good.”