Toto Wolff at odds with drivers as F1 war rages off the track

Toto Wolff, Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Mercedes, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Toto Wolff at odds with drivers as F1 war rages off the track

Are the Mercedes F1 squad on the same page in 2026?

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 6 May 2026 18:57

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Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff appears to be on a completely different page to his driver duo following last weekend's Miami Grand Prix.

The sprint race weekend in South Florida presented the Silver Arrows with the opportunity to bolster their position at the top of the constructors' standings thanks to a maximum of 58 points being on offer.

After Saturday's 100km sprint and Sunday's main event, Kimi Antonelli extended his lead over team-mate George Russell to 20 points, once again getting one up on his title rival as his time at the top of the drivers' championship continues.

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But whilst Antonelli appears to be enjoying an ideal start to his sophomore F1 campaign, he told media in Miami that Mercedes were struggling more than usual, although team principal Toto Wolff did not convey that message in his own review of the Miami GP weekend.

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What Wolff had to say after Miami Grand Prix

Prior to the fourth round of the season, F1 endured a five-week enforced break thanks to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.

During this time, F1 settled on some much-needed tweaks to the overhauled chassis and power unit regulations, aimed at improving qualifying and making overtakes feel less artificial.

Neither Antonelli nor Russell gave a glowing review of the new and improved regulations in Miami, but their boss Wolff doubled made it clear that he felt the FIA and F1 had done a stellar job with the changes.

"If there's one single person that complains about the race today, I think they should hide," the Mercedes boss told media after the Miami GP.

"Now, obviously this track is a little bit easier, it's not so energy stuffed. There's good games and there's bad games, so I think that was great, great advertising for Formula 1."

"Whoever talks about changing engine regs in the short-term should question his way of assessing Formula 1 at that stage," he continued.

"It's splendid. Can we tweak it and optimise it in the midterm? I think absolutely. We would never be against making the show even better. I'm thinking about SM modes [straightline modes]. I think we need much more straightline speed with the SM modes. We need to be courageous on doing that.

"In the midterm we are not opposed. Whether we could extract a bit more performance out of the ICE... Great. Give us enough lead time so we can actually do it."

Antonelli disagrees

However, even after finishing second-fastest in Friday's sprint qualifying session, championship leader Antonelli disagreed that all was well at Mercedes.

"I think we’ve been struggling a little bit more this weekend than usual," the 19-year-old admitted.

It was perfectly clear that Russell was struggling in Miami, but Antonelli's comments seem to suggest there could be more to the Brit's difficulties than the fact that Miami is a self-proclaimed 'bogey track' for Russell.

Even after Antonelli went on to win Sunday's race and become the first driver in F1 history to secure three consecutive career poles and convert them into wins, he hardly agreed with Wolff that the sport had been transformed by the regulation tweaks.

In Sunday's FIA post-race press conference in Miami, Oscar Piastri kicked off the discussions of the 2026 rule tweaks, sharing his opinion that the changes made during the five-week break hadn’t entirely fixed any of the problems.

"The races are basically exactly the same," said the McLaren star, to which Antonelli followed up with: "Yeah, I mean, not a lot to add.

"Qualifying feels better, more natural. Races, the closing speed, as I said, is massive, and you also need to trust the guy who is defending because also with this active aero, the car is pretty lazy when you want to change direction, so you need to think in advance.

"You need to trust as well, the driver who is defending. But it was a small step in the right direction and let’s see what’s going to happen next,” the championship leader said.

What does Russell think of F1 2026 regulation tweaks?

Russell's silence on the matter also spoke volumes about the regulation tweaks. The 28-year-old spent the entire Miami GP weekend complaining that the circuit just wasn't his best, claiming that his 'smooth, precise' driving style wasn't suited to the track

Prior to the race weekend, Russell did suggest the FIA should be left to decide any further regulation changes.

"They aren't idiots," he said, before adding: "Rightly or wrongly, the racing has been exciting," a comment which seemed to suggest he wasn't entirely behind the view Wolff would later share that the sport is without faults.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Mercedes George Russell Toto Wolff Kimi Antonelli Miami Grand Prix