F1 | 2022 changes closer and Mercedes ready to face a "formidable challenge"
In view of the new regulations that will be introduced in 2022, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff says the team will face a "formidable challenge" to stay at the top of the rankings.
It is useless not to admit that Mercedes has dominated the last seven seasons of Formula 1, imposing a hard-to-beat supremacy and obviously will be the favorite for the coming season.
But are we sure that Mercedes will be able to face the next F1 seasons with little concern? Looking at the "storm" that the new regulation will bring in 2022, we can say that the German team is also preparing for a difficult period.
And speaking of this point Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal said: "For us, it will be an interesting year, because we need to structure ourselves in a different way than we have done before, due to the cost cap,
"We are facing this formidable challenge of slightly tweaked 2021 regulations and a big earthquake of regulatory change for 2022."
And he also added: "There's factors that are working against us that motivate us a lot, factors that are working for us, because we believe we have a good organization. But overall, we embrace change and we've always done so in the past. So the organization is very much looking forward into 2022."
Lewis Hamilton is perhaps the one who does not let Mercedes sleep peacefully because his new contract has not yet been finalized, while Toto Wolff has pledged to be able to get a contract that extends his role in the German team for another 3 years.
"I enjoy the connections that I have within the team, and as long as I think that I can contribute, this is my role," Wolff said stating how committed he is to do his best for the team and at the same time there is talk of a succession for his role in the team.
"But equally, I have to make sure that I'm not creating a bottleneck in the leadership of the team. And that is my responsibility for our employees, for Mercedes and for the shareholders of Mercedes GP: to look at the time where I can hand over the baton to someone that is better than me."
One cause of the delay as regards the extension of Wolff's presence in the team is due to the arrival of INEOS as shareholder of the team. In fact the team has been divided in three ways between the Mercedes parent company Daimler, INEOS and Toto Wolff.
"My relationship with Ola, Daimler and the board and the various people that work for Daimler is as good as it can be. And we have a company that we jointly own." Wolff answered a question asked about why it took so long for him to reach an agreement with Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius.
"Looking into the future is not always as simple as just extending an employment contract, because it is about talking about the relationship among shareholders in the future. And that is something that takes time.
"In every other corporate structure or business, it doesn't go from one day to the other that you simply find a solution to every question around governance and future shareholding. So, it is the normal way of things."
