Toto Wolff claims McLaren have set 'difficult' F1 precedent

Wolff, Antonelli, Piastri, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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Toto Wolff claims McLaren have set 'difficult' F1 precedent

One controversial team decision has left the whole paddock talking

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 9 September 2025 12:18

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Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has issued a stark warning over a decision that he believes could lead to 'very difficult' consequences.

At last weekend's Italian GP, Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli could only manage to cross the line in P5 and P9 respectively, after the younger of the two drivers had to serve a five-second penalty for driving erratically.

But it was the action ahead of his team-mate Russell that concerned the paddock, and pretty much everyone who watched the race, in the aftermath of Sunday's finale European event of the season.

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After McLaren star Lando Norris was hit by bad luck in the pits, he posted a painfully slow pit-stop time of 5.9 seconds, allowing fellow papaya driver and championship rival Oscar Piastri to undercut him.

McLaren, notorious for their questionable 'papaya rules' instructed Piastri to hand the place back to Norris and as a result, the Aussie racer was forced to finish behind the Brti at the Italian GP.

In one of the most sanitised title battles in recent championship history, that decision has led McLaren to bear the brunt of allegations that they are destroying the very point of the sport.

McLaren lacking 'fierce' championship battle

Speaking after the controversial incident that altered the outcome of Sunday's race, Wolff gave his verdict on McLaren's team orders, pulling from his own experience at managing another close title race.

"There's no right and there's no wrong," Wolff said.

"I'm curious to see how that ends out.

"You set a precedent that is very difficult to undo. What if the team does another mistake? Do you switch them around?

"But then equally, because of a team mistake, making a driver that is trying to catch up lose the points is not fair either.

"I think we are going to get our response of whether there was right today towards the end of the season, when it heats up."

"I think if I look at our situations, because I'm not in their shoes of McLaren, back in the day, we had a gap where a constructors' championship is guaranteed, and you just let them race but within the spirit, you race fair and square but don't touch," he continued, reflecting on the fiercely tight battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton almost a decade ago.

"If you touch, then we take control. That's what I would have done in 2016, rather than trying to overmanage with our racing intent."

"We had two different animals in the car in Lewis and Nico,"

"They were two assassins, fierce combatants that took no prisoners, racing against each other. At times, it was very difficult to bench for the team. I don't see that at McLaren."

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