Toto Wolff dismisses the oil burning controversy

The new format of press conferences also applies to the team leaders. Although there are supposed to be three at the podium, we only saw two figures at the Friday meeting. With all due respect to Frédéric Vasseur, on the right side of the table, Toto Wolff and Maurizio Arrivabene were the focus of discussions for almost half an hour.

The justification of the Mercedes executive director

On the agenda for the discussions, the focal point was particularly the issue of oil combustion.

In this context, the Brackley firm brought its fourth and final engine of the season to Spa. Subtlety: the regulation was evolving at the same time regarding the limit of this combustion. From Monza onwards, any team introducing a new power unit must adhere to a cap of 0.91 liters per 100 kilometers. De facto, the new Mercedes engine can bypass this difficulty and consume up to the previous limit, which was set at 1.2 liters before!

Invited to respond to the nature of this change, Toto Wolff was quite surprised by the extent of the controversy, which could, however, change the face of this end of the season. « This has surpassed all understanding. Our idea is simply to bring additional performance on the track, with the risk that there are still many races until the end of the season. Obviously, we lack time for major developments. By introducing it earlier, we can thus bring some small improvements. This is not aimed at gaining a performance advantage through better oil combustion. I don’t know where this rumor came from… »

Reacting to the same question, Maurizio Arrivabene didn’t even try to provoke his table neighbor.

« First of all, there is no conflict on this subject. I don’t want to comment on this kind of thing. Mercedes introduced its engine with advantages and disadvantages: they will not be able to develop their engine during the season… »

But beyond words, let’s be clear. Everything in Formula 1 is about limits. When it comes to the rules, teams constantly play with them to gain the best possible advantage. In recent history, Red Bull did this with the regulations, particularly to bounce back in the second half of the 2012 season. With this discovery, Mercedes may have found an unexpected second wind, while the Scuderia is coming off a convincing weekend in Belgium.

So, will Ferrari be penalized? For Arrivabene, the issue is very clear, it’s all a matter of timing. The intervention of this new limit has been considered in the Scuderia’s calculations… First of all, we are not introducing our fourth engine immediately for this reason. We had a plan at the beginning of the year and we want to introduce this fourth engine at the right time and within the right regulatory window.

Fair play above all else

A beautiful story in a world that doesn’t seem like it? To top it all off, Toto Wolff and Maurizio Arrivabene imparted a great lesson in healthy rivalry to the journalists present in the room.

« I am surprised by this kind of comments. Do you want us to organize a boxing match to create a spectacle? » Arrivabene reacted in this way before composing himself. « More seriously, we must enforce this kind of competition. Outside, there is nothing bad between us. On the track, we compete against each other. But I can respect Toto as a person. I don’t want to create conflicts with everyone. This is my personal choice, this level of education is the minimum in sports, we are not criminals. »

Driving the point home, Toto Wolff set the stage for an unprecedented end of the season. Mercedes has found a true adversary without betraying its own principles. Firstly, I don’t want to ruin our sport on this issue of respect. I love the analogy with rugby: you can be fierce competitors and hit your opponent during the match. But you should be able to go have a beer with them afterward. This is the attitude we are following this year: we can be fierce competitors. But on this giant platform that is Formula 1, our sport must come out greater.

« Formula 1 is at a crucial point in its history, with new owners. We must be able to sit around a table and understand what is good for the sport. »

Moments of camaraderie and laughter exchanged in an otherwise extremely important context. This press conference was certainly a way to release pressure before the major events on Saturday and Sunday…

From our special correspondent in Monza