Toto Wolff says the only thing that matters to Stefano Domenicali is the fans

Mercedes delivered the best package according to the new rules as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli locked out the front row after qualifying for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix and finished the race one-two.

Russell and Antonelli were not complaining about the new cars, but that was not the case with other drivers.

When asked about that, Wolff said: “I didn't hear any one of the drivers speaking particularly good of the last cars and saying it was the best car.

“We tend to be very nostalgic and look at past events. Clearly, we're all stakeholders of the sport. We need to have a great spectacle, the best cars in the world, and the best drivers. Being exciting for the fans. That's why we just need to look at the product.

“One perspective is the view of the drivers, which is an important perspective. But... Stefano would say that the single metric that matters to him is whether the fans like it—that is what we need to look at.

“If it needs to be tweaked, if we need to adjust, I think we have the flexibility in Formula 1 to always take those decisions," the Austrian concluded.

Two points here. Firstly, Wolff should be worried that if his team dominates like they did back in the first turbo-hybrid era, Mr. Domenicali will not be happy because fans tend to switch off when one team keeps winning.

The second point is that Wolff should ask his PR and communications team to have a look around on social media and give him a brief of what the fans are saying after the Australian Grand Prix was concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)