Wolff reveals rejected FIA pitch to lift salary cap on junior Mercedes staff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed he formally pitched the FIA on a cost cap exemption specifically designed to raise salaries for junior staff, only to have the proposal rejected by the governing body.

Speaking during Free Practice 3 coverage at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Wolff opened up about the human cost of Formula 1’s budget regulations, which were introduced to level the playing field between factory giants and smaller outfits.

“I would have loved to have a little bit of an uplift,” Wolff said. “The idea that we had was for more junior personnel that joined the team, that we would have more allowance to pay them better. And not being the salaries suppressed in the first five, six, seven years.”

The Mercedes boss was keen to stress the proposal had nothing to do with finding a competitive loophole. The ask was straightforward: allow teams to pay young engineering graduates a fair market rate for the hours they put in during the early years of their careers.

The broader cost cap squeeze was also illustrated by comments from Williams team principal James Vowles, who suggested teams are now running components dangerously close to their absolute mileage limits to stay within budget. Wolff agreed, noting that Mercedes cannot carry all of its current chassis into next season — some will have to be destroyed.

“We are so on the edge of things that would be better to have more,” Wolff explained. “In our case, we’re not able to carry all chassis over to next year. Some need to be chopped up. Which is quite sad when you look at the record of these cars. So every team is under pressure. It’s the same.”

The engine penalty wave gripping Interlagos — with Max Verstappen, George Russell, and both Ferrari drivers all taking grid drops — has been widely attributed to teams stretching power unit mileage to its limits under the same financial constraints.

Wolff’s comments add a workforce dimension to a debate that has largely focused on car performance and competitive balance. While the cost cap has succeeded in tightening the on-track battle, his disclosure suggests the regulations are also compressing wages for the engineers at the bottom of the pay scale — the very people responsible for building championship-contending machinery.