Toto Wolff suggests 2021 F1 regulations were made to stop Mercedes dominance after Lewis Hamilton’s seventh title

In 2021, Mercedes controversially lost the drivers’ championship for the first time in eight years; Max Verstappen went head to head with Lewis Hamilton in one of the most dramatic seasons in F1’s history; watch the Singapore GP live on Sky Sports F1 starting this Friday

Toto Wolff has suggested the 2021 Formula 1 regulations were made to hurt Mercedes, which was one reason why they lost the drivers’ championship.

Mercedes entered 2021 on the back of a record-equalling seventh world title for Lewis Hamilton but soon realised they would face a big fight with Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

In mid-2020, changes to the floor regulations were announced for the 2021 season which saw limits to the floor in a bid to slow down the cars and reduce downforce.

These changes appeared to hurt the low-rake cars the most, including Mercedes and Aston Martin. Hamilton controversially lost the drivers’ title on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to Verstappen following a late-race safety car.

“We lost the 2021 drivers’ championship for many reasons. One was the final race. But we also lost it because those regulations were set in place in order reduce the advantage we had,” explained Wolff.

“2020 had been a super dominant year for us. I think it was the best car we ever had. Then, towards the end of the season, they changed the regulations by cutting the floor and that was to stop us.

“We saw the results in 2021, we were not as competitive as Red Bull was but at Silverstone we unlocked more potential of the car and got ourselves back into the championship. These regulations were targeted to reset the pecking order.”

Wolff: F1 can’t be WWE

Mercedes were the last team to beat Red Bull – at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix – and since then, the Milton Keynes-based outfit have won an unprecedented 15 races in a row.

Verstappen is setting new records himself as he is on course to set new benchmarks for the most wins and podiums in a season. He has already made history with the most consecutive victories for a driver and is looking to add to his 10 straight wins this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix – live on Sky Sports F1.

Mercedes went through their own dominant seasons between 2014 and 2016, plus 2020, when they were clearly in a league of their own.

Wolff says it is up to Mercedes to catch up, rather than rules being changed to slow down a dominant team.

“As a team principal, I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon that others have done in the past of saying ‘we need to change the regulations because we can’t continue with the dominance of a team’,” he said.

“If a team dominates in the way Max has done with Red Bull then it’s fair dues. This is a meritocracy. As long as you comply with the regulations, technical sporting and financial, you just need to say ‘well done’. It’s up to us to catch up and if that takes a long time, then it takes a long time.

“I remember people crying foul when it was us. Entertainment follows sport and not the other way around. We can’t be WWE, with scripted content. We don’t want to be scripted content.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Singapore GP schedule

Friday September 15
10am: Singapore GP Practice One (session starts at 10.30pm)
1.45pm: Singapore GP Practice Two (session starts at 2pm)
3.30pm: The F1 Show

Saturday September 16
10.15am: Singapore GP Practice Three (session starts at 10.30am)
1pm: Singapore GP Qualifying build-up
2pm: Singapore GP Qualifying
3.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday September 17
11.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up
1pm: THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction
4pm: Ted’s Notebook

Next up for the F1 circus are the stunning streets of Singapore under the lights. All sessions from the Singapore GP will be live on Sky Sports F1 from September 15-17. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW. Cancel anytime