“Everything Was Done to Slow Us Down” – Toto Wolff Sheds Some Light on Mercedes’ Take on 2022 F1 Rules

The 2022 Formula 1 season will be the beginning of a new era, with some massive technical regulation changes set to take place. Although Mercedes’ team principal, Toto Wolff, welcomed the changes, he alleged that F1 opted for such innovations to get rid of his team’s advantage.

According to Motorsport-total, Toto expressed his view on the upcoming regulation changes that could prevent Mercedes from maintaining their dominance. “That will motivate us,” the Austrian said.

“Everything was done to slow us down. We will all fight under the same financial conditions and everything is as good as capped.

“I would like us to continue to perform well in this most dramatic regulatory change ever in Formula 1,” he added. By the 2022 season, Mercedes could be under threat from other teams for the first time in nearly a decade.

However, Toto sounded convinced that his team can still come out as the best and continue to win more constructor trophies.

Toto Wolff expecting Honda to be a threat next season

Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula 1 by the end of 2021. Hence, Toto felt that Honda would want to finish their season strongly before bidding adieu to the sport.

He pointed out the 2021 season as a “transition year with the same engines“. However, Toto hinted at a potential threat from the Japanese manufacturers. “As I’ve said before, I expect a big boost from Honda,” he said.

As of now, Honda are supplying their engines to Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri. Although the latter might not be much of a threat to the defending champions, they will certainly be wary of Red Bull.

Over the early part of this season, Red Bull never looked like a contender for race wins unless the Mercedes drivers messed up theirs. As the season progressed, Red Bull gradually reduced their gap to the leaders.

Now, although Red Bull are still losing a bit of time on the straights, they have gotten quicker when it came to the corners. This change was also very evident over the last race weekend in Imola.

Hence, can Red Bull maintain the current advantage going into the next season and give their rivals a hard fight for the constructors’ trophy?