Wolff warns F1 rule changes won't break Mercedes dominance

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says any attempts to break the Silver Arrows' long-standing dominance of Formula 1 by changing the sport's regulations will prove foolhardy, instead suggesting that leaving the rulebook unchanged is more likely to bring parity to F1.

Mercedes have secure title doubles in each of the last five years, and a sixth looks on the cards for 2019 as the team has won each of the first seven races of the season.

Six title doubles on the spin is unprecedented in F1 and comes despite two changes of regulations, in 2017 and this year, during their period of success.

Another major shake-up is planned for 2021, but Wolff says it may only serve to strengthen the hand of teams like Mercedes and Ferrari as they are able to cope with balancing current challenges and those to come.

He said: "The default reaction in the past when a team or the big three teams were running away with the championship is that we change the regulations, because you believe that by changing the regulations the others may catch up.

"I think it's exactly the opposite, which is counter intuitive, that eventually performance converges.

"We have seen that with the power unit regulations that have been stable for a while, and I think if we left the chassis regulations alone more teams would be closer together.

"But as in the past, teams lobby for change because they believe rolling the dice can be an advantage for them. But we look at the 2019 regulation and the 2018 regulations and none of that has happened.

"The teams that were in front, they increased the gaps they had, so we are back to square one. We are making that mistake over and over again."

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 champion Max Verstappen reveals his 'bucket list' races after Nurburgring adventure

• 1 hour ago

F1 legend denies being arrested in Portugal over shotgun 'cock-up'

• 2 hours ago

Ferrari 'need to get their s**t together' as F1 legend calls for Hamilton-Leclerc peace talks

• 3 hours ago

Max Verstappen finally admits talks with Mercedes and McLaren, this is why he turned them down

• Yesterday 19:45

Lewis Hamilton is walking a dangerous line with Ferrari criticism: 'They have never liked this'

• Yesterday 18:45

McLaren to create 1000 UK jobs with new £450m investment

• Yesterday 17:27