Wolff reflects on four lean years as Mercedes seal ninth constructors' title

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has reflected on four difficult seasons without a Formula 1 world title after the Silver Arrows sealed their ninth constructors’ championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, equalling Williams in the sport’s history books and moving to within one title of McLaren.

The double triumph arrived in the first season under F1’s sweeping 2026 chassis and power unit regulations, a stark contrast to the ground-effect era of 2022–2025 in which Mercedes managed just seven race victories across four campaigns. This season alone the team has taken 12 wins, with Kimi Antonelli claiming the drivers’ title the previous weekend to become the youngest world champion in F1 history.

“The thing is, when you are in these difficult moments, like we all are sometimes in our lives, it’s not that easy to keep going,” Wolff said. “Because looking back in retrospect, you’re saying, ‘We needed these tough moments in order to grow as people or to grow as an organisation’. But when you’re down, that is quite difficult to feel.”

Wolff acknowledged the team’s back-and-forth struggle to understand what had gone wrong with the car during that period, but pushed back on any suggestion the years were wasted. “We will be looking back in 10 or 20 years, and when you look at the statistics, it wasn’t that we were complete losers over those four years, because we finished third, second, fourth, second successively. We won races, many races. So it wasn’t that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers, but it felt not good.”

The Austrian was quick to credit the staff who stayed the course. “The resilience of the team — the people that held together in those tough times — is a factor,” he said. “So it feels really good sealing those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after a consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell, and then coming back. So I’m really proud that we are part of this very small group of teams that have done that in all sports.”

Mercedes’ ninth constructors’ crown draws them level with Williams in F1’s all-time standings. Ferrari remains the record holder with 16 championship victories.