Toto Wolff says Mercedes screwed if engine rules change but they won't sue

The first race of the season will take place in Melbourne less than a month from now; the topic of Mercedes' engine compression ratio has ramped up, with rivals reportedly pushing the FIA to change their measurement procedure.

Should that happen, the 2026 Mercedes power unit will most probably be deemed illegal, which means the team as well as its customers will not be allowed to race in the season opener.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has so far been defiant in his response to the controversy, insisting his team's engine is legal, but has now acknowledged that rivals' lobbying may end up costing his team dearly.

For the rules to change, there should be a vote in the Power Unit Advisory Committee (made of engine manufacturers, the FIA, and FOM) with the majority voting for the change to happen.

Wolff said: “It's not only the teams; you need the votes from the governing body, and you need the votes from the commercial rights holder, and if they decided to share an opinion and an agenda, then you're screwed.

“I think that the kind of lobbying from the other engine manufacturers has massively ramped up over the last few months," he admitted. "I mean, secret meetings, secret letters to the FIA, which obviously there's no such thing as a secret at this point. And that has brought it to this situation.”

Although the Austrian maintains the FIA has given its stamp of approval on Mercedes' engine, he admits nothing is cast in stone.

He explained: “You know, in this sport, it’s full of surprises, so there is never a situation where you can say you’re sure about anything. All along the process, when you design an engine, you're keeping the FIA very close to the decisions you make, and that's what we did.

“And we have had all the assurances that what we did was according to the rules. It's not even like we're talking about some massive performance gain, and that's what it was, but I think all of our competitors got a little bit aggrieved and lobbied the FIA for a long time.”

“Well, if it becomes a regulation, you need to adhere to the regulation," Wolff said. "And if you can't adhere to the regulation, then the FIA needs to come out with some kind of invention, how to adjust for that, and that's unclear to us.

“Of course, you develop an engine over a long time, and you have lead times, and if you were told you can't operate the engine in the way you have developed it, that could be quite damaging for the performance.”

However, Wolff rejected reports that Mercedes would take legal action in case the FIA changes the measurement procedure.

“There is no such scenario as we would sue anyone," he assured. "In Formula 1, in my opinion, it is more essential than ever that you know what the rules are, but engineering ingenuity is always respected, and that's why we always respect the governance of the sport.

"If the governance of the sport decides to change the rules, be it against our position or for our position, we just have to get along with it," Wolff concluded.