Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has told rival teams to focus on themselves amid an ongoing row over the interpretation of this year’s engine regulations, saying “get your s— together.”
The controversy centres on the engine’s compression ratio, which the 2026 regulations have reduced from 18:1 in 2025 to 16:1 this year, ostensibly to make it easier for new power unit manufacturers to compete.
However, the regulations state that the compression ratio will only be measured at ambient temperatures, leading to speculation that Mercedes, and to a lesser extent Red Bull, have found ways to achieve higher compression ratios, and therefore more power, when the engine is hot.
The issue was discussed among power unit manufacturers and the sports’ governing body, the FIA, ahead of last week’s opening preseason test in Barcelona, with further meetings set to follow before the start of the season.
It is not yet clear whether changes will be made to the regulations — possibly to measure the compression ratio when the engine is running hot — but Wolff said Mercedes’ rivals would be better off focusing on their own performance than lobbying the FIA.
“When it comes to the engine question, you know, I just don’t understand that some teams concentrate more on the others and keep arguing a case [on something] that is very clear and transparent,” he said ahead of Mercedes’ season launch event on Monday.
“Communication with the FIA was very positive all along — and it’s not only on compression ratio, but on other things too.
“And specifically in that area, it’s very clear what the regulations say. It’s very clear what the, let’s say, standard procedures are on any motors, even outside of Formula 1.
“So just get your s— together. And, you know, just doing secret meetings and sending secret letters and keep trying to invent ways of testing that just don’t exist … I feel like I can just say at least from us here, we are trying to minimise distractions and minimising distractions is looking more at us than at everybody else when it’s pretty clear what the regs say, and also pretty clear what FIA has said to us and has said to them so far.
“But maybe we’re all different. Maybe you want to find excuses before you even started [for] why things are not good. So, yeah, everybody needs to do it at the best of their ability. But that is really not how we would do things.
“Especially not after you’ve been told a few times that that is fine. You know, it’s legal and it’s what the regulations say. But again, if somebody wants to entertain themselves by distraction, then everybody is free to do this.”
Asked specifically if Mercedes’ power unit is legal and whether he was expecting rivals to launch a protest after the first race, Wolff reiterated that F1’s governing body, the FIA , was fully aware of Mercedes’ approach to the new regulations.
“The PU is legal,” he added. “The PU corresponds to how the regulations are written. The PU corresponds to how the checks are being done. The PU corresponds to how these things are measured in any other vehicle and everything else I can’t judge upon.
“But that’s how we see the world today. And that’s what the FIA said, that’s what the president of the FIA said, and he knows a bit about that. And in that respect, let’s wait and see.
“But we feel robust.”
Mercedes enters the new set of regulations as the favourites after a strong opening test in Barcelona at which it completed the most mileage over three days of track running.
However, Wolff said it was too early to judge the relative competitiveness of the cars, with further developments and performance running expected to provide a clearer picture at two upcoming tests in Bahrain before the first race of the season in Australia on March 8.
“I’m always, as you know, I’m always sceptical about performances,” he said. “I’ve been too often set my expectations in the wrong place.
“And I just don’t want to come to a realisation in Bahrain or in Melbourne that we are not what we thought we are going to be — and that is [to be] a race winner. That’s simply because of that, and I think we need to have more work done at that stage.”
Wolff said the opening test left him encouraged that his team’s car would at least be among the front runners and not scrapping for points in the midfield as it was at times under the last set of regulations.
“Yeah, we feel enthused by going into this new environment. You wake up with a massive smile if your car is quick and the early indications are that we had were positive that at least it doesn’t look like a turd and we’re stuck in the midfield.
“It looks like we have something that you can build upon. So yeah, generally we are happy people, but with the scepticism of knowing that we haven’t got reliable data of the other usual suspects.”
