Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted the team will need to get “creative” with car parts in the remaining races amid concerns over exceeding Formula 1’s cost cap.
George Russell’s incident in FP2 last weekend in Mexico prompted Wolff to assert that Mercedes could encounter “serious trouble” adhering to F1’s $135 million limit.
Wolff’s claim came with Russell having endured a shunt in the United States the previous weekend, which succeeded Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s practice crash at Monza.
Russell’s error in Austin meant he was without Mercedes’ revised floor at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, though that is set to be rectified in Brazil this weekend.
However, Wolff has conceded the impact has had consequences elsewhere as the marque will have to come up with unique interpretations in other areas on the W15.
“I love a driver to push and I’d rather crash him and we know what the car is capable of doing than not,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week post-race.
“The cost cap plan nevertheless is a tricky situation. So these three chunks put us on a back foot. Certainly, the one that happened before yesterday was massive.
“We had to change, we had to opt for a completely new chassis. There is a tremendous hit in the cost cap and we probably have to dial down on what we put on the car.
“So we’ll be having two upgrade packages in Brazil. Two floors but that’s basically, there’s nothing else that’s going to come.
“We have certain limitation on parts where we need to be creative.
“Are we managing this? Certainly there is an impact on how many development parts we can put on the car because the answer is zero.”
Mercedes won’t prevent F1 battles
Mercedes was unable to challenge Ferrari or McLaren in Mexico, but damage to Russell’s front wing initiated a late fight between him and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Although a clash would have been disastrous for Mercedes, Wolff has denied that there was ever an inclination to tell its drivers to maintain their respective positions.
“They are so good and so experienced that we allow the racing,” the Austrian expressed.
“At the beginning, I have no doubt. There was not a feeling where I thought it’s getting [a[ bit hairy.
“I think we made the call to George where it was clear that Lewis had the faster car.
“Maybe that one defence [from Russell] on the straight was a bit of a late move. I don’t have any doubts about that.”
Meanwhile, Wolff has revealed that he would be willing to allow Hamilton to return to the previous-spec parts amid his credence that the old package remains quicker.
Asked whether Mercedes will split the floors in Sao Paulo or run both on the updated version, Wolff replied: “I’m always open-minded about what the drivers think.
“If I’m certain that George is going to go for the new and Lewis may want to back-to-back the old floor in Brazil, we will certainly talk with him about his preferences.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes Mexico battle highlighted F1 package differences
