Toto Wolff silent on Mercedes token spend to avoid "war on information"

Mercedes

Wolff silent on Mercedes token spend to avoid "war on information"

Mercedes has not revealed how it used development tokens

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 17 March 2021 05:00

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has again declined to reveal where the manufacturer has spent its development tokens on the W12 this season to avoid what he has described as the "war on information".

Pre-season is always one of the most intriguing periods in F1, and the past couple of weeks have been no different despite the bulk of this year's cars a carryover from last season.

But with the new rules having a significant impact on downforce, the machinery was cleverly disguised in certain areas when they were launched so as to avoid giving away any secrets.

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Mercedes went one step further than the majority of other teams by opting not to confirm where it had spent its development tokens.

Pressed on the matter again, Wolff said: "Not everything needs to be put in the public.

"This is also a war on information, a competition of information, and I'm sure you haven't seen all the cars in the specification they are going to be raced in Bahrain, so that is part of it."

It remains to be seen if Mercedes has an ace up its sleeve for the first race following what was a difficult pre-season test in which it racked up the least amount of laps of the 10 teams - 303 - as it encountered pace and rear instability issues.

Mercedes did, however, reveal its floor that was initially concealed at the launch which possesses a 'wavy' or 'scalloped' edge.

Aerodynamicists have been forced to come up with new ideas to compensate for the changes that have been made to the floor to reduce downforce.

Asked for an explanation, Wolff replied: "If I were to start on the benefits of the floor for aero purposes you would probably get the wrong information!

"I think it looks good. [It is about] Optimising the floor around the lack of aerodynamic performance we have with the new regulations. Let's see whether it can be translated into real performance."