Toto Wolff braced for F1 knives to come out over Mercedes car

Toto Wolff superimposed into a Knives Out with Daniel Craig — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 Knives Out - Toto Wolff braced for Mercedes backlash

Mercedes have faced intense scrutiny over their 2026 F1 car

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Wednesday 25 March 2026 20:55

Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff is braced for the team's rivals to get their 'political knives out' over the performance of the W17.

Whatever the Silver Arrows got up to over the off-season it could not have gone better.

They have produced a monster car compared to the rest of the grid and it's only a matter of time before George Russell wins his maiden title, closely followed by Kimi Antonelli.

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That is, unless everything falls apart after June 1.

The problem that Mercedes currently face is an unrelenting level of scrutiny over their car. If their rivals can't produce a car as quick as them, the next natural thought seems to be 'well they must have done something illegal'.

Wolff: Mercedes have produced a winning car

The Mercedes chief is all too aware of paddock politics, a skill he is very much adept at, and is therefore waiting for the fingers, or indeed knives, to point in his direction.

"We have a good car, at this stage, that is capable of winning," Wolff said.

"Let's see what kind of political knives are going to come out in the next few weeks and months. But at the moment it's a car that is capable of winning."

Can Ferrari beat Mercedes?

Even if Mercedes have the most dominant car on the grid, they haven't had things all their own way.

Ferrari's lightning starts have given Russell and Antonelli food for thought as they watch both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc slingshot past them off the line.

Fred Vasseur is adamant that his team are slowly but surely closing the gap to Mercedes following impressive results at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.

If the Scuderia can keep their form going into Suzuka this weekend, they will be perfectly placed to take advantage of the month-long F1 break to head back to Maranello to work on their findings.

Hamilton will never have more motivation to beat his old team as he knows it will bring with it an elusive and record-breaking eighth world title.

F1 Mercedes FIA Toto Wolff