Toto Wolff believes an "emotional" Fred Vasseur "misunderstood" his Ferrari development and cost cap comments

Ferrari have been rushing upgrades to their 2026 Formula 1 car, while Mercedes had one major upgrade for the Canadian Grand Prix, and Wolff questioned that, saying they will run out of money soon under the cost cap if they keep doing so.

When presented with these comments in Silverstone, Vasseur was not happy with what his "friend" said and hit back, calling them ironic and questioning if it was a joke of some sort.

In the aftermath of Qualifying in Silverstone, where Kimi Antonello beat Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for pole, Wolff was asked about Vasseur's reaction to his initial statement in Austria.

“Fred is very emotional,” Wolff said. “If you would have read my comments, rather than just a headline, he would have seen that what I said was an observation and would be interesting to see how much updates one can pull out at the end of the season.

“But it’s just the emotionality that we all have and being passionate about team success, and I’m fine with that," he added.

Wolff was then quizzed on whether his Ferrari counterpart took those comments out of their context; he said: “I know it was misunderstood.

“If I say things that I want to be understood, I will do so too, but in that case, I didn’t mean it really," Wolff concluded.

Mercedes have managed to somehow keep their rivals at bay despite not rushing new parts to the W17, which means their initial platform is so good.

While Red Bull Racing and Ferrari have been busy upgrading their respective cars, Mercedes have been basically tweaking it while managing to maintain their advantage.

They are leading the 2026 F1 Constructors' Championship from second-placed Ferrari by 100 points. (Source: Sky Sports F1)