As the 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix unfolds this weekend, Mercedes-AMG Petronas CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff has provided detailed insights into the W16’s performance, aiming to recapture the dominance the team once displayed between 2014 and 2022.
Wolff dissatisfied despite competitive results
Following a strong start to the season—marked by a series of consistent results that have propelled Mercedes to second place in the Constructors’ Championship—Wolff remains cautiously optimistic. The team’s success across the last five races, including three podium finishes, has exceeded initial expectations. Senior driver George Russell acknowledged this progress yesterday, highlighting that such results had not been anticipated so early in the campaign.
Speaking at the Friday’s FIA press conference, Toto Wolff dives into the W16 discussion and reluctantly agreed, as he said:
“Yeah, probably. Because when you… you know, we had a little bit of swings of performance and then maybe one or the other race the Ferraris came back at us and he was great in defending. So it is pretty close, but still, it’s not really satisfying because you have McLaren out there that are able to manage their tyres so well.”
Moreover, Wolff characterised the current development race as a constant struggle for parity.
“And then it’s the three teams that are fighting with each other – one race you get it right, the other one not. And yeah, certainly trying to figure out what it is and playing catch up.”
Potential of W16
The W16 is the latest car from the Mercedes AMG F1 Team and has been performing better than the previous iterations that caused trouble with Russell and the 7-time World Champion ex-Mercedes Driver Lewis Hamilton in previous seasons.
Toto Wolff, understanding the position he is in with the car, and when asked if it had the potential to win another championship, he said:
“The car is much easier to set up. At least you put more flap in and the car does what you expect it to do, which in previous years wasn’t the case. And it’s more predictable.”
But, Wolff also understands that the car has some “underlying issues”
“The underlying issue obviously is keeping the tyre temperatures in the window, and that’s something we just haven’t found a way of doing really well.”
Mercedes’ “little secrets”
As the F1 season gets into its sixth race at the Miami GP, every team in Formula 1 is chasing fractions of a second, but as the new 2026 regulations loom over the horizon, many teams are investing in the future.
When asked whether Mercedes is going to keep on developing the W16 deep into the season before the new regulations or switch focus now, Wolff answered:
“I think every team will have their little secrets. And it’s also a bit of a moving target. All of us have transitioned certain groups within the aero department or larger groups in the design office that are only looking at next year’s car, obviously.“
Wolff went on to highlight the performance curve that the new regulations could bring to the constructor, as well as an insight into the early beginnings of Mercedes’ 2026 engine and power unit.
“And the performance slope is very steep. You’re adding lots of downforce in because it’s the early days, and that’s going to flatten. But if a team has started doing it one and a half months earlier in terms of transitioning resources, that can be a big advantage next year.”
