Toto Wolff Doesn't Want F1 To Give VW Group A Free Pass To Lure It In

Toto Wolff has often spoken about not giving potential new OEM partners a free pass in F1. Even after having dealt with the FIA, Liberty Media, and the engine manufacturer group alongside executives from Audi and Porsche for the final decision on the new engine formula, he continues to say that new manufacturers shouldn't get a free pass.  At the same time, Wolff clarified that things shouldn't be too hard for them. 

Also Read: Audi & Porsche To Join F1

"I think it's great that we have strong OEMs that are showing an interest in coming to the sport. Obviously, none of these major car companies wants to come in and face a situation that they are highly uncompetitive, and therefore we need to have systems in place that mitigate those very big risks. But, on the other side, F1 is the Champions' League, and nobody can expect to enter the Champions League for the first time and be straight into the final and go home with the big trophy," said the Mercedes F1 boss and 33 percent co-owner of the team. 

Wolff was looking towards Audi and Porsche the two VW group brands that are likely to join F1 in 2026 who have pushed for the axing of the MGH-U, something that Mercedes pioneered with the V6 turbo hybrid era of the engines. While Wolff agreed to the elimination of MGH-U, he didn't agree to budgetary flexibility for the new manufacturers. 

While for the last 7 years Mercedes has dominated F1, its first four years were spent in the midfield 
Photo Credit: AFP

"I think everybody recognises that you cannot just come and conquer, but you need to give it time. And that is what in the past many OEMs have just misunderstood. When you look at Toyota, Honda, and BMW as near past experiences, all the money, all the resource is irrelevant if you don't give the project enough time. I think everybody who joins F1 as a team or as a power unit manufacturer needs to understand this. It needs time. And that makes the sport so attractive: that it is just not easy to win," he explained. 

Mercedes acquired the Brawn GP team that won the world championship in 2009, but then it went four years without a title and for most of the period it was starkly in the midfield behind Red Bull and Ferrari. F1 has been pursuing the VW group for more than a decade and in 2015 it was on the cusp of joining F1 but the diesel gate emissions scandal came up and it backed out. 

Now, F1 has a CEO who worked at the VW group in Stefano Domenicali who was the CEO of Lamborghini and he has a very good understanding of what it will take for the VW group to enter the sport, however, Wolff is of the opinion that they shouldn't be offered everything on a platter. 

Most likely, two Volkswagen Group teams, under the Audi and Porsche brands will enter F1 in the 2026 season when there will be the new engine formula alongside a new type of car which will be narrower, lighter, and one with a shorter wheel-base.