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Toto Wolff has admitted he is worried about some of the most recent changes in Formula 1. Recently, Mercedes and Ferrari have clashed with Liberty Media over reported plans for a budget cap and future engine rule changes.
But it's the new Halo that has Mercedes boss Wolff the most appalled: "Give me a chainsaw and I'd cut it off," he said at the launch of Mercedes' 2018 car. It's right to protect the drivers, but this cannot be the final solution.
"We need to come up with something that simply looks better, but it's also a massive weight on the top of the car so it screws up the centre of gravity. We have to remember this is a formula one car," Wolff added.
He also hit out at Liberty's most recent decisions: the grid girls ban, and the delay of the start of races for an hour and ten minutes: "The shift of an hour to 2 to 3 o'clock I think is good, but I cannot understand the 10 minutes at all," he said. "I think that's a mistake."
As for the grid girl ban, Wolff admitted: "I don't understand it at all. I always liked it, and I don't think it was at all negative for women."
the ten minutes is pretty obvious.
every station that take F1 wants it own panel of experts to waffle on before each race.
this way they can start on the hour and talk , add a few prime sponsored adds and everyone is happy
But it just seems sloppy to start the main event at :10. At least make it :30 then.
Ah but the biggest beef is how Liberty is trying to eliminate the premium paid to mercedes and ferarri
This and the proposals to simplify the power unit are all they care about. Understandably, but all the other changes are minor and, in my opinion, positive.
looking at the halo a spring like what hit mass can still get thru. what if the monocoque fails beneath the halo in a crash it would mean certain death in that situation unless the drivers have a amour plate protecting the torso. It is F1. They are professional drivers who can deal with the risk. They aren't the grid kids who need protection injury till they can decide what to choose for themselves. a pity PC interferes with good judgment
I like Toto and generally agree with him. In this case, he's pointed out some changes Liberty implemented that are largely good for the business. I'd expect him to understand that. But what bothers me is that mainly he and Ferrari are what's getting in the way of a change in regulations to power units to (1) be more cost effective, (2) sound better, (3) allow for other manufacturers to potentially come to the sport like Porsche (who has already expressed interest) and Aston Martin (already involved in the sport). I understand why they want to protect their gains, but there is no doubt that it's a the expense of the good of the sport as a whole.
Same, he is generally a nice guy, but some of the things he dispute are things that needed to be changed A LONG time ago. Though Im not with Liberty when they consider standardizing some parts. Even if it would be largely redundant things, F1 isnt just a driver's sport, its a team sport, and that includes the engineery bits. Standardizing could in that regard mean killing off a large part of what F1 is about.
Totally agree, the engineering is what makes F1 special and “ standardisation” would be a death knell for the Series. I still don’t understand why Wolff is being dogmatic about the financial structure as Merc is not exactly short of cash, but he is a “money” man first & foremost. They should show leadership & perhaps isolate Ferrari & their lame threats a little. This seems to be Wolff’s biggest weakness, which has given Ferrari the confidence boost, that they can manipulate Liberty.
Even Renault has commented that laud noise from engine is bad design target because it means less efficient power units. Basically loud noises are just something that people are used to associate to a race car because of older inefficient designs engines.
And for anyone wishing for more noise I predict that direction is towards less noise and in end to fully electric and low noise F1. But technology is still far from fully electric F1 so you can still enjoy ever less noisy hybrid engines for a few years still.
A loud engine Could be a sign of inefficiency, but the two dont always correlate. Remember, both Ferrari's and Mercedes' units has been louder than Renault's units, and there is little doubt that the two are superior in most ways compared to Renault. And for their regulations, the Super GT's GT500 inline 4 engines are very efficient despite being loud n' proud. I think in part Renault's statement is an excuse for why they've failed where Ferrari and Mercedes has done better. F1 shouldnt prioritize loudness I agree on that, but they could do with improving sound quality. And just give the teams 4 allocations.
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Ah but the biggest beef is how Liberty is trying to eliminate the premium paid to mercedes and ferarri