Mercedes boss details how 'every spend more has a performance advantage' for an F1 team

Mercedes' Toto Wolff claims that Red Bull's alleged cost-cap breach is no small matter. According to him, even an amount as small as $500,000 could swing the championship in a different direction. The FIA announced on Monday that Red Bull and Aston Martin are guilty of minor overspending breaches for the 2021 season.

The FIA's report suggests that Red Bull overspent around $7 million to $7.25 million, but have yet to release the exact details of the same. Wolff is certain that even half a million spent in the right direction can help a team massively in the championship, putting them at an unfair advantage. He told the media,

“We can see that there are two top teams that are just about the same and there is another team that spends more. We know exactly that we’re spending – three and a half million a year in parts that we bring to the car. So then you can see what difference it makes to spend another $500,000. It would be a difference.”

The Austrian exec also claimed that his team could not bring in the much-awaited lightweight chassis upgrade this season. In fact, Mercedes had to adjust to the issues to avoid going $2 million over budget. They will have to wait until next year to make their car more competitive. He added,

“We haven’t produced lightweight parts for the car in order to bring us down from a double-digit overweight because we simply haven’t got the money,” he said. “So we need to do it for next year’s car. We can’t homologate a lightweight chassis and bring it in, because it’s just $2 million that we will be over the cap. So you can see every spend more has a performance advantage.”

Mercedes benefited from Lewis Hamilton's leadership during tough 2022 season

Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliot claims that despite having a more or less midfield car, Lewis Hamilton has been an asset to the team. The Briton has worked with the same spirit as he did when he was fighting for championship titles. He leads the team with his championship-winning mindset, despite their poor showing in 2022.

According to Racingnews365, speaking about Lewis Hamilton's efforts to the team, Elliot said,

"Both our drivers have been brilliant this year. We've not given them the car that they need to fight, and particularly for Lewis, seven-time World Champion, to not have been in that position, to be winning races every weekend and fighting for championships has been hard. I think Lewis pushes the team. I think he does a really good job of giving us feedback. He works really hard. His work ethic has not changed at all this year."

Ferrari now seems to have the jump on Mercedes in the constructors' championship with a gap of 67 points on the table. However, with four rounds yet to go, there is enough time for the Silver Arrows to incite a change in the tide.