Wolff calls for F1 rules reform in wake of alliance "s**tstorm"

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called for an F1 rules reform around team relationships after a "s**tstorm" regarding Aston Martin's use of its wind tunnel.

Teams have long had technical partnerships in F1 with the bigger, more financially capable manufacturers extending links to smaller, independent teams.

A key partnership on the grid is between Ferrari and Haas, with the American team having legally purchased parts for its cars in bulk since joining the grid.

The team has raised suspicion with an upturn in form in the opening three races of the new season, with teams understood to have sought clarification from the FIA over similarities to the Ferrari.

But with the budget cap now well in force, there is less disparity between teams' financial resource.

Asked whether this meant F1's rules needed to be looked at given, Wolff replied: "I think it needs reform.

"We want to avoid these kinds of discussions that we have now, the polemic around the last few days or last few weeks, everybody deserves to perform well, and people should get credit when they've done a good job.

"But some of the job-hopping or entity-hopping on the same premises is just creating arguments that are not necessary for the sport.

"So definitely for us, you know, we have Aston Martin in the wind tunnel that we had two years ago. Quite a shitstorm about that. We have been handling them with the utmost diligence.

"But going forward, if we were to need to compromise our, let's say, income ability, we need to do this, because none of the teams should be able to cooperate in a way that we're seeing today, with some of the teams."

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