But while the top two teams in F1 are barely separated from each other, the message of the current world champion outfit in what can be a heated competition at times is the exact opposite of what you’d expect.
Rather than feeling weighed down by what is potentially the greatest threat to its F1 dominance, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the German automaker actually felt a sense of exemption from it.
Because after years of dominance, in which the team’s motivation to keep going was fueled by the fear of being overthrown from the top at some point, Wolff says that he and his employees were strengthened by the fight in which there is everything to be won .
In an exclusive conversation with Motorsport.com about whether the excitement at the beginning of the season was replaced by Red Bull’s trend-setting form due to the increased stress challenge, Wolff said: “It has actually subsided because we’ve been under pressure all these years: we can’t possibly lose.
“Now it has changed: This is our win because the odds were against us. So suddenly there is a lightness in the approach that prevails, which makes it very pleasant.
“Your expectations are changing. There is no sense of entitlement. We have seen that with other sports teams when the expectations are so high that it becomes even unacceptable to lose.
“And I think we conditioned ourselves with us. We formulated the expectations realistically and we just had fun getting ourselves back into a position where we can fight. ”
This season is not the first time in the dominant turbo-hybrid years. that Mercedes faced a title threat.
Because Ferrari drove it pretty hard in 2018/2019 when the Italian team had made some sensational progress with its engine, which later turned out to be the bone of contention among the rivals.
If you compare the pressure of this fight with Ferrari to what Mercedes now has to do with Red Bull, Wolff is clear about when his team felt the most under the hood.
“The Ferrari years felt more intense because I think we were so keen to prove we weren’t a one-hit wonder back then,” he explains.
“We really wanted to create a legacy of being the top team for a couple of years, and we’ve done that now. We have won seven times in a row, something that no other sport at World Cup level has achieved.
“Suddenly this lightness came into play. We are still very ambitious and competitive. But the fear of loss has become less acute. We still hate it, but it’s less harmful to your own wellbeing. ”
New sense of regulation
Mercedes W12 floor detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
One of the decisive factors for the tightness in the title fight this year between Mercedes and Red Bull was the change in the aero regulations.
To reduce downforce, the FIA made changes to the floor dimensions which are widely believed to have harmed low-rake cars like Mercedes more than their high-rake rivals.
Looking back, when the reality of this situation became clear, Wolff says the team was initially optimistic about making up for the losses.
“When the regulation change happened [to be agreed] pretty early in the 2020 season we thought we could get it back in terms of downforce, ”he said.
“But it seems we haven’t caught up as much in terms of relative performance as we thought.
“So we started the season with a race to catch up, but then of course we had these early successes.
“If you look at Bahrain, we probably shouldn’t have won the race at pure car pace, but we did it. And since the beginning of the season we’ve always been a little behind, except maybe Barcelona and Portimao. ”
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Wolff says the impact of the change of soil was such that Mercedes had to relearn the car like it was a season with entirely new rules.
“I think this year was for us to rediscover the car’s sweet spot,” he said.
“All these years we’ve driven the car around a particular configuration and when all of a sudden the loss of downforce occurred at the back of the floor we just had to rediscover it and find the performance elsewhere.
“We had good and bad weekends, but for us it was really like starting the season with new regulations: in contrast to what some of our competitors had.”
Red Bull relationships
Toto Wolff, Executive Director (Business), Mercedes AMG, and Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The battle between Red Bull and Mercedes was not only intense on the track, but also off it.
In addition to politics about flexi rear wings, tire pressure and pit stops, tensions broke out between Wolff and Red Bull boss Christian Horner after the comments after the British GP crash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Wolff is very clear about one thing: that the focal points between Mercedes and Red Bull are more due to personal differences of opinion between the bosses than to the war between the two organizations as a whole.
“It’s very important not to generalize Red Bull or Mercedes,” he said. “It’s very much a team sport and there are individuals involved.
“Just because certain people don’t get on well with each other doesn’t mean that you don’t respect the other being and the people who work there who are trying to do the best possible job to make their own dreams come true.” And overcoming their own worries .
“That’s why there is always respect for these organizations and for the people in the organizations and for the people in the teams.”
When asked if he was surprised at how the relationship between Red Bull and Mercedes broke down, Wolff said: “Relationships have never been great and that comes from the sheer competition we have.
“But I would say that in the war of words we tried to stay cool, to remain level-headed and not to stir up controversy and polarization among our fans even more.
“The goal has always been to de-escalate. On the other hand, unfortunately, the opposite happens. ”
The battle of F1 2021 at the top is far from over.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, fights with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
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