Toto Wolff gave an exclusive interview to Motorsport Italia, covering many topics, from the return of the V10 to Antonelli’s debut.
Mercedes started the 2025 season on the right foot. Russell‘s double podium (two third-place finishes in Australia and China) and Antonelli‘s strong performances allowed the Star team to leap into second place in the Constructors’ Championship, chasing McLaren. Toto Wolff can certainly be satisfied, as he was interviewed exclusively by Motorsport Italia
Toto Wolff addressed many topics in his interview, starting with the current one: the possible return of the V10 engine. This is the German’s thought on the matter: ‘There’s probably someone who fears they haven’t achieved the competitiveness they hoped for; this happened in 2014 as well. Now that we’re approaching the refinement of the engines we’ll use next year, I believe there’s someone who’s afraid they won’t have a good product, and that’s why the idea of the V10 has suddenly emerged. It’s a targeted action. But that said, we at Mercedes are always open to discussions on these topics.’
The engine of the future? Is it a V8 or a V10? What type of hybrid system should be adopted? Sustainable fuel is clearly a fixed point, and we are fine with either a naturally aspirated engine or a turbo. Whatever challenge arises, we’ll accept it, as long as there’s proper governance to carry out the right decision-making process. Let’s sit around the table and have a discussion; all the engine manufacturers will bring their ideas, and we’ll decide what we want to have after 2030.’
From engines to the driver market, with Max Verstappen at the center of Mercedes’ dreams, but Toto Wolff is focusing on George Russell, and a renewal for the Brit seems imminent. Here’s what Toto had to say: ‘Yes, absolutely. I mean, it’s almost a secret… what’s the saying? An open secret? We intend to confirm our drivers long-term, things are going in the right direction. A contract doesn’t only define that a driver will race a car; there are also other aspects that need to be discussed, in the team’s and the driver’s interest. It’s a structured process and takes a bit of time. Russell is a top driver, and we’re lucky to have him in the team. The decision to bring Kimi into the team also came because we knew we had George as a reference point. We knew he would tell us where the car was and, of course, he’s the reference for Kimi.’
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s start has been particularly important, with a superb comeback in Australia (from 16th to 4th). The decision to back the very young Italian driver was an insight, made right after Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. Here’s Toto Wolff’s account: ‘With all due respect for the 12 years we’ve spent together and the friendship and success we’ve had with Lewis, as soon as he informed me of his intentions, I immediately thought about who would be the next driver to get in the car. There are two schools of thought in these situations: you take a risk, betting on a young driver you believe is capable of stepping up, or you make a more conservative choice, go to the market, and get the best available driver.
There’s also another factor that weighed in our decision-making. Putting Kimi in another team to gain experience, like Williams, would have meant letting him go for at least two seasons, and I didn’t want to commit that long. Moreover, even if we had found a team willing to take Kimi for just one season, what motivation would a driver have to come to Mercedes for only a year? These were the thoughts in the minutes after Lewis left my office.’
Finally, the analysis of the current Mercedes: ‘It’s a more stable platform; last year, the rear end was our weak point and the front was our strength. Now they go hand in hand, but we’re still not satisfied with the width of the operating window; we want it to be a bit wider. At the moment, it’s still difficult to find the right stability. We still go from being the leader in one session to being sixth in the next, but we also have to say that this is happening to many other teams, and maybe it will be like this for the whole year.’
Photo: X Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
