Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has denied McLaren’s “impressive” advantage in Formula 1 could lead the team to make an earlier switch to the new rules coming in 2026.
McLaren delivered on the pre-season expectation that it would be the side to beat as the reigning champions prevailed at the Australian Grand Prix with Lando Norris.
The suspicion that the Woking-based squad’s margin would expand in race conditions was realised as it dominated prior to a late rain shower disrupting proceedings.
But when asked whether that could inspire Mercedes to now put a greater emphasis on next season’s car, Wolff stressed that the German marque would not “give up”.
“It’s big; it’s an impressive gap,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week regarding McLaren’s pace at the Albert Park Circuit.
“It’s reminiscent to, you know, we had these years where you just wanted to disappear to the distance, but you must never give up.
“You know, we’ve just done the first race weekend. We finished third and fifth [fourth once Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s penalty was overturned].
“It would have been fourth and fifth on merit, but we are where we are, and that’s why you can never take your foot off the throttle.
“We have to analyse what is it we can do in order to manage the tyre better. You know, we’re not missing 20 points in downforce. That’s not the thing.
“It’s just literally on the mechanical side, what can we do to keep these in the sweet spot?
“So it hasn’t changed anything in terms of how we prioritise 2026 versus this year, after the first race weekend. You have to keep your cool and continue your trajectory.”
McLaren advantage highlighted
Wolff concurred with Russell’s assessment that McLaren’s advantage predominantly resides in how the squad’s MCL39 preserves the tyres better than its rivals’ cars.
“I think we would have wished to have a fight with the McLarens and with [Max] Verstappen under normal conditions,” he conceded.
“We have a deficit in keeping the tyres in the window.
“They are able to do that better and get faster, and with us we’re seeing a degradation because they’re simply getting too hot.
“That’s why I would have liked to be a bit closer to them, but that’s the reality.”
Mercedes must understand McLaren strength
Russell capitalised on Oscar Piastri’s spin on Lap 44 to claim a podium, while Antonelli delivered an inspiring comeback drive to rise from 16th to fourth on his debut.
That combination, coupled with Piastri slipping back to an eventual ninth-place finish, has seen Mercedes tied on 27 points with its engine customer in the standings.
But although he was content with the opening weekend, Wolff admitted Mercedes has to understand how McLaren maximises the tyres to contest the championship.
“I think, yeah, P3, P5. So that’s the result. If you look at the real pace today, pace result would be P4, P5. And I think it’s a solid first weekend,” he reflected.
“But looking at it always from the glass half-empty side, you have to say that the pace of the McLaren is just very strong.
“Something which we need to understand, the way they are able to manage the tyres and extract performance from these is, yeah, we just need to get better.
“If we want to fight on merit for race victories and for a championship, there’s definitely something which we need to fight.”
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