Mercedes principal insists their new car is within rules
‘Other teams are finding excuses before they have started’
Toto Wolff has dismissed claims from rival teams over the legality of Mercedes’ new engine, insisting it is within the regulations. The Mercedes team principal said that the onus lay with the other manufacturers who had missed an opportunity and that they should get their “shit together”.
The row over whether Mercedes and Red Bull have stolen a march on the opposition in their engine design has dominated the buildup to the new season and Wolff notably did not rule out other teams protesting against the legality of their engines after they are used competitively for the first time at the Australian Grand Prix on 8 March.
The disagreement centres on Mercedes and Red Bull having taken advantage of the regulations in increasing the compression ratio of their engines, set at 16:1 but measured when the car is at rest. It is believed both teams have made use of the thermal expansion of certain components to increase the compression ratio to as much as 18:1 when the car is running – equating to potentially as much as 0.3sec advantage in pace over a lap – but remain within the rules when the ratio is measured while the car is “cold”.
