Toto Wolff warns new F1 engine manufacturers to invest "money, sweat and blood" before success

Toto Wolff at the Styrian Grand Prix — Photo: © LAT Images

Formula 1

Wolff warns new F1 engine manufacturers to invest "money, sweat and blood" before success

New engine rules are due to come into force in 2025 or 2026

Ian Parkes

Saturday 30 October 2021 12:29

Toto Wolff has warned F1's potential new power unit manufacturers not to expect to be 'Champions League' winners as soon as they join the sport.

F1 is currently in the midst of finalising its latest power unit regulations that will come into force from either 2025 or more likely the following season.

With a greener, more sustainable, less expensive system in the pipeline, the talks have attracted a major player in the Volkswagen Group to the table, with Porsche or Audi set to be its representative.

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Mercedes team principal Wolff recognises such an esteemed company would not wish to become 'another Honda' and face years of technical struggle before finally making its mark.

Conversely, Wolff also insists it cannot be allowed to be victorious with immediate effect and understands there is a fine line between the two sides.

"It's great we have strong OEMs that are showing an interest in coming to our sport," said Wolff.

"Obviously none of these major car companies want to come in and face a situation where they are highly uncompetitive. Therefore we need to have systems in place that mitigate these very big risks.

"On the other side, Formula 1 is the Champions League and nobody can expect to enter the Champions League for the first time and go straight into the final and go home with the biggest trophy.

"We've been there a long time, invested lots of money, sweat, blood and [suffered] terrible results in order to get us where we are.

"Look at Mercedes' history in the first five years of us being a works team, the terrible Honda days they faced, the Renault days. Everybody has had to fight their way up in order to eventually win races and championships.

"It's a fine balance we need to get right in order to attract newcomers as power unit manufacturers."

Wolff feels the sport has been littered with past failures from major names as they failed to recognise patience is required to succeed in F1, rather than throwing money at a project and hoping for instant success.

"Everybody needs to recognise you can't just come and conquer, you need to give it time," assessed Wolff.

"In the past, that's what many OEMs have misunderstood. If you look at Toyota, BMW and Honda, all the money, all the resource is irrelevant if you don't give the project enough time.

"Everybody who joins F1 as a team or as a power unit manufacturer misunderstands this needs time. The fact that it is not easy to win makes the sport so attractive."

As to the progress of the negotiations, Wolff said: "Everybody is trying hard to get the regulations together.

"We all agree on the sustainability concept going forward but what needs to be defined is the detail - newcomers versus incumbents and various other parameters.

"But the global concept is clear and we are already far advanced into the discussions of the regulations but we are not there."