Wolff Hits Back at "Insulting" Suggestions from Horner and Binotto

Mercedes has held an undisputed performance advantage ever since the hybrid era began apart from a brief challenge from Ferrari during certain parts of a couple of seasons. This has led to what many have characterized as uninteresting racing due to Mercedes’ supremacy since 2014. Red Bull and Ferrari team principals, Christian Horner and Mattia Binotto respectively have now offered their suggestions to solve this problem and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has responded

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0:00 - Wolff Finds Horner’s And Binotto’s Suggestions An ‘Insult’
2:31 - Fast Feed

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Wolff Finds Horner’s And Binotto’s Suggestions An ‘Insult’

Horner began by offering his suggestion

“There should be a mechanism so that you are not pushed into a corner where you have to drag around a performance deficit for three years”

“Maybe there should still be a mechanism between the seasons. The easiest way would be to adjust the fuel flow. They have all the information and can measure the performance output of the engines”

Binotto added to that

“The goal is not to equalize all manufacturers in their performance. That's why I would call it engine alignment, because it's the only way to help a manufacturer if he does have significantly less performance”

Wolff in response began by pointing out how there was a token system in the past aimed at achieving something similar and how it was discontinued

“If you remember. We once had a token system when the regulations came out. And because some of our colleagues wanted the tokens to be removed again so that they could catch up, we agreed to discontinue the tokens”

He then explained why balancing performance is like an insult

“And now some of our colleagues are coming around the corner with a convergence system, which, to be honest, is a small insult. Ferrari had the best engine in 2018, and by far the best in 2019. We developed our engine and went over the limit to bring something in 2020 that we wanted to catch up with”

He further pointed out the humiliation in another engine-manufacturer asking for equalizing engine performance

“And that's why I can't understand why a manufacturer who believes in their ability to develop power units and chassis would want such a mechanism that balances the power units. I don't think anyone would accept such humiliation in public”

Wolff also explained how creating a level field this way would be very difficult

“I've said it before. For me this would be the beginning of the end. It doesn't fit with Formula 1's DNA and because engines can be judged not only by power (but also weight, cooling and drivability). A simple formula that works for everyone is not possible”

Horner summed up his response to Wolff’s reluctance

“Why should Toto with the best engine in Formula 1 want to give everyone else the opportunity to catch up with them? A freeze is great from his point of view, especially without alignment”
Fast Feed

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested that former F1 driver Romain Grosjean “was for sure very fast. On a good day, Romain was one of the best ones out there”

However, “he sometimes pushed and tried too hard. Then you see those errors. He just went over the limit and then the errors come”

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo pointed out that “this year”, they “have the Mercedes engine to get used to” and he is “getting settled into a new team with hardly any testing”

As such, they “weren't going to be anywhere near” their “best in Melbourne if it was in March, so personally” he’s “more confident” they’ll “be stronger in November”

Sergio Sette Camara, reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri in 2020 has revealed that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko “is different, his driver academy is the best and you see the results”

He added that “the bottom line is that Red Bull is investing in the programme, and Marko is doing a great job”

He also suggested that maybe Marko “could be a bit less hard on the drivers, but he has a different method” and “it works”

Marko, meanwhile has pointed out that they “have a cost limit” and they “are also talking about reducing the drivers' salaries. To invest even more in the engines now makes no sense”

He reiterated that if the engine freeze did not come into effect, it “would mean that Red Bull would have to drastically reconsider its place in Formula 1”

Marko also confirmed that “everything is settled between” Red Bull and Honda to carry forward Honda’s F1 engine program after 2021

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez “was aware of the campaign by Mexican fans to keep” him “in Formula 1 and that was very special”

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali feels that “Formula 1 needs a competitive Ferrari, but” he’s “convinced they can step up again in 2021”
Will Red Bull challenge for the title this year?

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