Mercedes has had a poor start to the last three seasons, and Toto Wolff knows that this unwanted trend must not continue this year.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has warned that his team “cannot afford” a poor start to the upcoming season, especially ahead of new power unit rules that come into effect next year.
This year is a challenging one for all 10 teams, as 2026 brings big rules. Each team must decide when to shift focus to a new era during 2025.
For most teams, development of this year’s and next year’s cars will take place simultaneously, meaning any mistakes in developing the 2025 car could be extremely costly. Mercedes have had poor starts to the last three seasons, although they managed to win four races last year.
With the 2025 season starting this weekend in Australia, Wolff is aware that they cannot afford to get off to a bad start again, as upgrades will be a major challenge with the new regulations approaching.
“The first six months [of 2024] cost us the most points because we couldn’t get the car running properly,” Wolff told OE24.
“In the second half of the year we still won four races and were among the leaders. Our goal is still to fight for the titles. But the fight is incredibly close among the four teams that can win this year. You can be first or eighth.”
“The difficulty will be to develop the current car while also looking ahead to next year, because of the huge changes that are coming. You have to be very flexible.”
For a team like Mercedes, choosing the right moment to shift focus to next year is even more complicated, considering they are also a powertrain manufacturer.
Getting that transition right will be one of Wolff’s biggest challenges in 2025, especially as the Brackley outfit has a reputation to uphold. Wolff is not prepared to sacrifice this season and is aware of the team’s expectation of winning and winning titles, which adds to the pressure to ensure the W16 does not require major upgrades that could slow down development for 2026.
“It requires a lot of tact,” Wolff added. “We are Mercedes. Our goal is always to fight for victories and titles. Given our reputation, we cannot afford to fix things only in the spring.”