Toto Wolff tells rival F1 teams ‘get your s*** together’ amid engine controversy

Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff has hit back at rivals accusing the marque of running an illegal 2026 engine, telling them to “get your s*** together”.

Ahead of the new campaign, which will see a new generation of cars raced, there has already been brewing controversy surrounding engines.

Mercedes and Red Bull have seemingly exploited a potential loophole in the new regulations surrounding compression ratios with their new engines, which could offer a significant power advantage.

Current regulations state that the compression ratio in a cylinder cannot be higher than 16.0, down from 18.0 last year on the older engines.

But a grey area in the wording of the regulations, which suggests that the measurement is only taken at ambient temperature and not when the motor is running hot, appears to be being exploited to achieve a higher ratio limit.

A joint letter from Ferrari, Audi and Honda was sent to the FIA on the matter late last year, with meetings on it between the governing body and the manufacturers held since to try to find a solution before the season starts.

Toto Wolff: Mercedes’ 2026 F1 engine is “legal”

When pressed on the matter on Monday in a call with the media, including Crash.net, Wolff expressed his anger at the accusations being levelled against Mercedes.

“When it comes to the engine question, I just don’t understand that some teams concentrate more on the others and keep arguing a case that is very clear and transparent,” Wolff said.

“The communication with the FIA was very positive all along, and not only on the compression issue but on other things too.

“And, specifically, in that area it’s very clear what the regulations say. It’s very clear what the standard procedures are on any motors, even outside of Formula 1.

“So, just get your shit together. Doing secret meetings and sending secret letters and trying to invent ways of testing that don’t exist…

“I can say - at least from us here - we are trying to minimise distractions and minimising distractions is looking more at us than anybody else when it’s pretty clear what the regs say and what the FIA has said to us, and said to them so far.

“But maybe we are different. Maybe you want to find excuses before you have even started, while things are not good.

“Everyone has to do it to the best of their ability, but that is really not how we would do things, especially not after you’ve been told a few times that it’s fine, it’s legal and what the regulations say.

“But, again, if somebody wants to entertain themselves with distractions, they are free to do this.”

Asked if he was confident there would be no protest of the Australian Grand Prix result and that Mercedes’ engine complied with the rules, Wolff replied: “The power unit is legal.

“The power unit corresponds to how the regulations are written, and the power unit corresponds to how the checks are being done.

“And the power unit corresponds to how these things are measured in any other vehicle.”