Toto Wolff has hailed Red Bull’s remarkable turnaround and Max Verstappen’s recent dominance, while acknowledging that Mercedes must extract more performance from its latest upgrades to remain competitive heading into 2027.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has praised Red Bull’s impressive development throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season, recognising the team’s resurgence and the formidable challenge posed by Max Verstappen.
Despite Mercedes securing two victories and a double podium across the recent triple-header, Wolff believes Red Bull has established itself as a major benchmark following a series of significant improvements to its RB22.
The Milton Keynes-based team introduced an extensive upgrade package in Azerbaijan, where Verstappen and Isack Hadjar secured a double podium. Verstappen subsequently claimed consecutive victories, underlining the progress Red Bull has made.
« You really have to take your hat off to what Red Bull has done this season, » Wolff said.
« The way they’ve developed the car, the way everything has come together, and then you put Max Verstappen in the car. When he feels that it drives the way he wants it to drive, those are the results you get. »
Wolff was particularly impressed by Verstappen’s recent performances, describing the Dutchman as the clear benchmark.
« By far the fastest guy today, the fastest guy in qualifying, and the fastest guy in Kuala Lumpur, » he said.
The Mercedes boss hopes his team’s latest development package will eventually deliver the performance required to challenge Verstappen.
« Let’s see whether, when our upgrade hopefully starts working and reaches the level where we believe it should be, we can be competitive against him. »
Red Bull firmly in the 2027 title picture
Wolff also considers Red Bull a genuine championship contender for 2027, highlighting the competitiveness of its Red Bull Powertrains power unit.
Asked whether Red Bull should be regarded as a title threat next season, he responded emphatically.
« Oh yes! That’s one thing that’s certain. Next year, it’s an all-out fight between the teams, and Red Bull is part of it. »
Although Wolff acknowledged that he had not yet examined the relevant data from Singapore, he suggested there was little evidence of Red Bull suffering a significant disadvantage in power unit performance.
« I haven’t seen the data, obviously not yet from Singapore, but you can’t see that they’re behind, » he explained.
« They’ve done things very well. The internal combustion engine looks very competitive. You can see that, but also in terms of energy recovery and deployment, it’s pretty good. »
His assessment reflects the growing threat Mercedes faces from a Red Bull operation that has combined substantial aerodynamic development with an increasingly competitive power unit.
Mercedes still searching for answers with latest upgrades
While Red Bull appears to have found a more effective development direction, Mercedes continues to assess its own recent technical changes.
At Singapore, the team adopted an unusual approach by running different car specifications for Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, allowing engineers to compare the characteristics of its latest upgrade package against the previous configuration.
Wolff explained that the decision was intended to accelerate the team’s understanding of the changes introduced in Malaysia.
« When we started the weekend, we made the unusual decision very early on, in a high-tech environment, to run two different cars because we felt we needed to accelerate our learning curve, and that was good. »
Following the race, however, Wolff admitted that the updated car required a fundamentally different approach to setup and had yet to deliver its expected performance gains.
« Looking at the race now, at the end of the weekend, I think this new car needs a very different setup philosophy from the previous one, and that’s what we’re learning at the moment. »
He was equally candid when assessing whether the changes had made the car easier to drive or delivered the anticipated improvement.
« Was it an easy car today, like the previous one? I don’t think so. Does it have the performance we hoped the upgrade would bring? I don’t think so yet. »
Nevertheless, Wolff believes the Singapore weekend represented progress in understanding the new package, with the upcoming United States Grand Prix providing another important opportunity to evaluate its potential.
« But it was a step in the right direction, and in Austin we should see whether we can continue to build on that and whether it actually has more performance. »
For Mercedes, the implications extend beyond the remaining races of 2026.
With development decisions increasingly shaping preparations for next season, Wolff stressed that understanding the latest upgrade package would be essential to determining the team’s technical direction for 2027.
« That’s crucial for the development direction for next year. »
