Wolff: If I say I’m not angry, it won’t be true.

Toto Wolff, head of the Mercedes team, commented on the results of Friday’s training in Melbourne and also explained why his wife decided to sue the FIA.

Q: Mercedes chief racing engineer Andrew Shovlin said the team wants to experiment with trying to increase the car’s speed during practice in Melbourne. Do you think the experiment was a success?
Toto Wolff: The experiment was carried out, but we could not reveal the potential of the machine. I think we made some pretty significant adjustments to Lewis Hamilton’s car in the second session, but things got a lot worse. But that’s what training is for, to experiment.

Moreover, we clearly don’t have enough speed in one fast lap, so overall the day was not good.

Q: Are you very upset about what is happening? From the outside, it seems that we have already heard all this from you in the last two years: even then you conducted experiments to reveal the potential of the chassis. So the old story continues?
Toto Wolff: (after a pause) If I say I’m not upset, it won’t be true. Of course we are angry. We continue to work in all directions, but a solution has not yet been found – a solution that would help map out the right path for further searches. But we need to continue this work, because there have already been situations where the machine worked quite effectively, and we have seen that.

I do not want to repeat myself and say that we have never been able to deal well with the current technical regulations, because we have everything we need to solve all the problems, and we will certainly solve them.

Q: Now I would like to discuss a story that is being talked about a lot in the paddock and beyond these days: Susie, your wife, announced this week that she has filed a formal complaint against the FIA ​​in a French court. Lewis has already spoken out in favor of it and has spoken out quite harshly against the federation, whose work shows a distinct lack of transparency. I would like to hear your comments on this topic…
Toto Wolff: To begin with, it should be emphasized that Susie is a strong woman who does not ask anything from anyone, but has her own beliefs and adheres to certain values. She approaches this situation very pragmatically, without emotions: now that injustice has been committed, this means that going to court is necessary.

Nothing will make Susie turn away from her chosen path, such is her character. On the other hand, we’ve been saying all year that the FIA ​​lacks transparency, and the bad thing is that this story even happened. This is exactly what Lewis is talking about. I believe that when discussing our sport, we should first talk about its merits, and everything else should be left in the background.

But if there is injustice, it must be pointed out.

Q: What do you think will happen next? And what further developments would Susie like to see?
Toto Wolff: Susie started this process a long time ago, and as far as I know she has prepared for it very carefully, with the intention of settling everything through the courts to hold the FIA ​​to account and not allow this matter to is being covered up.

I believe that in our sport, in all its aspects, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of transparency. This applies to Susie’s case and some other cases related to certain teams. I believe that sometimes you have to go beyond, so to speak, the special legislative framework that Formula 1 adheres to, to compare what happens with what happens in real life.

Question: Let’s talk about another topic that is also important for fans: if Max Verstappen is released from obligations to Red Bull due to circumstances, will you try to lure him?
Toto Wolff: It seems to me that he was only thinking of some other options due to disagreements within their team, and I think he should be given time to think and decide his future. At the same time, we should not put pressure on him.