Toto Wolff refuses to talk as Mercedes performance in spotlight ahead of new F1 season

Toto Wolff is keeping his cards close to his chest as Mercedes gear up for the final season of the current Formula 1 era. From 2026, a new generation of cars will be used thanks to significant changes to design rules. And, of all the teams on the grid, Mercedes may well be the happiest to see the back of the current era of racing machines. Beforehand, they had won eight consecutive constructors' titles. But since the current set of cars was introduced in 2022, they have struggled for performance relative to their rivals and have only a handful of race wins to show for their efforts.

Four of those five wins did come last year, though, and they were clearly the quickest team on some race weekends. That will give team principal Wolff encouragement that they can end the current era on a high before moving on to the next generation of cars. Not that he is letting it show. The Austrian, perhaps wary after making grand proclamations about his team's ambitions before only to suffer on track, is reluctant to "talk too much" about what he expects or hopes from Mercedes' performance in 2025.

He said: "These cars are so complicated to hit the sweet spot, that we've only done it on a few occasions. We were ultra-dominant in Las Vegas, and then at other tracks, we were unable to contest for a podium. "So I'd rather not talk too much and see how we can perform in the tests, and see whether we have solved some of those balance issues, get on top of the tyres and then we shall see. George is ready to fight for the championship, we've got to provide him and Kimi with a car that is fast enough.".

Wolff was referring, of course, to his two drivers for the 2025 season. George Russell has now graduated to the role of team leader, following the exit of Lewis Hamilton, while the young man chosen to fill the void left by the seven-time champion is 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli. Speaking ahead of his maiden season, the Italian revealed how his first experience of the F1 paddock was when he was just seven years old - and was not exactly official. "It was Hockenheim in 2014. I couldn't get into the paddock because I was too little," Antonelli told the team's website.

"My dad decided to hide me inside a stack of tyres and wheel me through on a trolley. We put an umbrella on top to make me harder to see! I got through and into the pit lane, and my dad's friend got me a pass. I had a look around for an hour and it was such a cool experience - but we always laugh at the story of the trolley.". Catch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won't miss a lap on Sky Sports.