Mercedes rules out Hypercar effort in Le Mans: “We don’t like BoP”

Mercedes has ruled out entering a hypercar in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the near future, citing its opposition to Balance of Performance.

The World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class is governed by a BoP system, which is designed to equalise the speeds of different types of cars in the series.

While BoP can sometimes be controversial, it is seen as a necessary evil, with the championship allowing cars built to both LMH and LMDh regulations to compete against each other in Hypercar.

The new rules have proven to be a huge success, with eight manufacturers currently competing in the top class of the WEC and three more brands due to join the series in the next two years. The IMSA SportsCar Championship, which also has a parallel GTP category for the same breed of cars, has also seen an influx in entries in recent entries.

Despite this growth, Mercedes has made it clear it has no interest in joining the fray unless BoP is abandoned in favour of a cost-cap system similar to that used in Formula 1.

“[Mercedes CEO Ola Kaellenius and I, we are racing people and we don’t like BoPs,” the company’s motorsport chief Toto Wolff told Bloomberg.

“We don’t like Balance of Performance. We don’t like somebody assessing your power, your energy consumption, your weight, or your driver skill. I’m being harsh now.

“You spend so much time and money and effort in developing the quickest car and then you are being put 10 kilograms of ballast on this car.

“I just want to build the quickest car. And Formula 1 has shown how it goes. Give us a cost cap. Do Le Mans, give everybody a cost cap. 'You cannot spend more than X, whatever you say, 30-40 million. And within this 30-40 million, you can do what you want'.

“There are still regulations but nobody needs to bluff in pre-season racing or in qualifyings. But it’s war. It’s gloves off, pure racing.

“If that were to happen, Le Mans would absolutely be something we would be looking at. But at the moment, with BoP, having some officials judge whether you’re quick or you’re too quick, putting 10 kilograms in your car or taking it out of someone else’s the next day - that’s not for us at the moment.”

Mercedes has a difficult history at Le Mans, with two infamous incidents overshadowing its legacy at the event. In 1955, one of its 300 SLRs was involved in the worst accident in motorsport history, killing dozens of spectators and prompting the company’s withdrawal from racing

Then, in 1999, the cars of Mark Webber and Peter Dumbreck flipped over at the Mulsanne straight due to a design error, forcing Mercedes to cancel the CLR programme.

Mercedes returned to the French endurance classic this year in the LMGT3 division, with Iron Lynx entering three AMG GT3s on a customer basis, but the brand had no presence in the Hypercar division.

Despite the chequered past, Wolff still holds Le Mans in high regard and sees it as one of the most prestigious events in motorsport.
However, he insists Mercedes’ focus remains on F1, where its factory team won eight constructors’ titles between 2014-21.

“I’m looking at it,” he said. “Le Mans, I’m a racer. Le Mans 24 Hours is one of the greatest races in the world. Formula 1 for me obviously with my bias is the best drivers, the quickest cars, and the greatest tracks. And then there is a long time of nothing.

“But I would say what’s next, Le Mans 24 Hours. Indy 500. And that is really one for insiders. And the Nordschleife, the Nurburgring 24 Hours. That is for me the top of the top. And when I’m not having a Formula 1 weekend, I can watch a Le Mans race pretty much through the night. I’m following the live feed and I know some of the drivers, I have a personal interest.

“And as Mercedes it is something we did in the past. That wasn’t our happiest place. We had a very bad accident in the 50s when we exited and then some of our prototypes have been flying, taking off in the 90s.

“But what it is for me today, we are concentrating on the main platform which is Formula 1. It’s what we want to do right. It captures 99 per cent of the audience and everything comes second. We have entered with Mercedes in a GT3 car, that’s something we are looking at, it’s our customer programme.