Toto Wolff says it is 2014 again as Mercedes dominate F1 testing

Comments made by Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff have led to yet more rumours that Mercedes could be set for 2014-style dominance.

2026 sees the most comprehensive regulation changes since 2014, when F1 heralded in the hybrid era.

This year, there are new rules coming to the power units once again - with a much greater emphasis on electrical energy and the removal of the MGU-H - but the aerodynamic design of the cars is also undergoing some extensive changes.

And Mercedes have been rumoured for much of the winter to be the team set to be ahead when the new season kicks off at the Australian Grand Prix in March, just like they were in the 2014 season, getting out of the blocks faster than any of their rivals.

Mercedes then went on to dominate the early years of the hybrid era, claiming eight consecutive constructors' championship titles between 2014 and 2021.

The signs from the first pre-season testing event of 2026 have been good, with Mercedes completing over 350 laps at the private shakedown in Barcelona with reportedly very few reliability issues.

On Thursday, George Russell drove the W17 in the afternoon and (with the caveat that all lap times are unofficial) set the first time in the 1:16s, bettering the previous quickest time of the week set by team-mate Kimi Antonelli, 1:17.081, in the morning.

It was a video from the team explaining the Barcelona shakedown on their Instagram that saw Wolff compare the feel of the extended 2026 pre-season testing schedule - a maximum of nine days available for each team - with the start of the 2014 season.

"It reminds me of 2014, so let’s hope we can be as quick," he cheekily said, while the team also put up a post earlier this week celebrating 12 years since the launch of their highly successful 2014 car.

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Will Mercedes dominate the 2026 season?

The noises coming out of Mercedes in recent weeks have been very positive, and both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli may well be facing the prospect of a championship battle in 2026.

Even Russell's deflection away from Mercedes and onto Red Bull earlier this week should be a positive sign for Mercedes fans, with the mind games beginning in order to take the pressure off the Brackley-based outfit.

It's always impossible to predict exactly how the grid will shape up just based off testing, and the competitive order in Australia will likely be completely different to how it looks at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP as different teams develop their cars at different rates.

But in the early part of this year, it does very much look like Mercedes are the team to beat, as they were in 2014.

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