"The picture is still very unclear" - Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confused by F1's engine cost cap rule and how it could apply to new entrants

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes there is still no clarity on F1's engine cost cap rule, especially in terms of new entrants in the 2026 regulations.

The Austrian believes the definition of a new entrant is unclear and questioned the CapEx amount in the budget caps.

Speaking to The Race about the cost caps, Wolff said:

"It’s not clear yet who actually enters as a power unit supplier and who declares themselves as newcomers. It could well be there are three companies from the same group that are entering as newcomers. The picture is still very unclear and whether $15m CapEx is enough or not enough, there are much bigger topics we need to agree on – which we haven’t."

According to the Mercedes chief, it is unclear whether "new entrant" refers to an entirely new manufacturer or an existing team becoming an engine-maker like Red Bull.

Another point he raised is whether the $15 million amount will be sufficient for the new entrant. Wolff believes there are many such points that need to be clarified.

However, Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner said:

"I think the framework that actually exists within the power unit regulations is reasonable from a newcomer status perspective, which obviously Red Bull Powertrains will be for 2026. It’s a modest, I think, $10million in the first two years and $5million in the third year as an allowance for a newcomer."

"The thing that is the most restrictive that needs to be looked at is from a CapEx perspective, because essentially there’s only $15m worth of capital expenditure allowed on equipment from when the cap comes in."

According to Horner, Red Bull Powertrains will be a new entrant for the 2026 season and beyond, and the budget allowance is modest. However, he believes $15 million won't be enough to compete with existing manufacturers, who have already invested in infrastructure, equipment, etc., for the past few years.

Like the Mercedes boss, the Red Bull CEO believes the CapEx amount will need to be revised or looked into.

Justifying the need to clarify the CapEx amount in the budget caps, Horner said:

“Now when you look at our competitors, who in some cases have obviously had 70 years of investment on the engine side, to think you can have a facility fully operational and equipped within the next eight months is unrealistic. think that’s something that needs to be looked at.”

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Mercedes boss believes they will resolve their performance issues eventually

Toto Wolff believes the W13 will improve and evolve with every race weekend.

Despite facing porpoising issues and balance issues with the car, the Mercedes team principal believes they will be able to overcome their performance hurdles just like other teams.

Speaking to GP Fans in Australia, Wolff said:

“I believe that we are going to get it nailed on with this car as well. You can see that many other teams, like Ferrari, still have some bouncing but they have done many other things right that we have missed out on or we didn’t perform very well, the same for Red Bull."

"Their car got quick from one day to the other in Bahrain testing by bringing the updates so this car is very difficult to correlate because you can only move the car with a certain frequency in the wind tunnel where it is limited and then on track it does something completely different.”

Mercedes are currently second in the championship standings, despite their underperforming tools.

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