Toto Wolff (Mercedes) on the difficult spell: “No complete losers”

With a fourth (George Russell) and fifth (Kimi Antonelli) place at Interlagos, Mercedes has mathematically confirmed what I had already predicted at the start of the season: Mercedes is the Constructors’ World Champion! The Stuttgart-based team has thus secured its first Constructors’ Championship since 2021. Following Kimi Antonelli’s Drivers’ Championship title in Mexico, this is the Silver Arrows’ second world title of the season.

Wolff: Mercedes needed to go through tough times

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also looked back on the more difficult years since 2022 following the title win. The Viennese said: “The thing is: when you find yourself in such difficult moments – as we all do from time to time in our lives – it’s not at all easy to carry on. Because, looking back, we needed those tough times to grow as people or as an organisation. But when you’re down and out, it’s hard to see that.”

From the rule changes for the 2022 season onwards, Mercedes struggled and failed to get a foothold in the ground-effect era. In 2026, however, the Germans hit the mark with their engine and chassis under the new regulations. A successful comeback!

Mercedes team principal Wolff: “It didn’t feel right”

Wolff: “Looking back, these last four years have been very difficult. It’s been a cycle of making mistakes, then somehow trying to understand why it was wrong, and then realising: No, we didn’t understand it after all. It was a constant back-and-forth. But we’ll look back on this in 10 or 20 years’ time, and if you look at the statistics, we weren’t complete losers over those four years. After all, we finished second, third and fourth. We’ve won races. So, purely in terms of numbers, it wasn’t all that bad. But it didn’t feel right.”

And what put the Silver Arrows back on the road to victory? Wolff: “The resilience of the team – the people who stuck together through those difficult times – is, in my opinion, a decisive factor. That’s why it feels really good to have secured these two titles.”

Topic of the week

Crazy MotoGP hero? Jorge Martin as 2026 World Champion in Psychology

Many shook their heads – whether out of bewilderment, admiration or disapproval – when a badly injured Jorge Martin opened the throttle at Sepang and Losail. Martin’s message has got through.

Read More

TV Program

Live

Las Vegas: Rennen Re-Live

FIA Formula One World Championship

22.11.2026 - 07:30

Wolff also looks beyond the world of Formula 1: “Not many sports teams have managed this: going through a difficult spell after a run of consecutive championships and then bouncing back. That’s why I’m really proud that we belong to this very small group of teams that have managed to do that across all sports.”