Martin Brundle thinks Toto Wolff is ‘desperate’ to beat one of Mercedes’ main F1 rivals this season

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Mercedes are entering F1’s new regulatory era with a massive chip on their shoulder, and Martin Brundle has suggested that Toto Wolff is now ‘desperate’ to settle a score with one of the Silver Arrows’ biggest rivals.

Following the intense dominance that Mercedes displayed at the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era, strong results became hard to come by upon the introduction of ground effect aerodynamics in 2022.

Red Bull superiority ensued, followed by McLaren’s turn at the helm of the F1 standings. Both teams are staunch rivals of the Silver Arrows, and both were able to counter any technical advancements that came out of Brackley during their respective world championship-winning campaigns.

However, for Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, the rivalry with McLaren hits a little bit closer to home.

Wolff never wanted McLaren to be an engine customer in the first place, so their recent success in the sport is sure to have struck a nerve with the third most successful team principal in F1 history.

• READ MORE: Which teams completed the most laps at the Barcelona shakedown as Mercedes impress but Audi struggle

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Martin Brundle says Toto Wolff is looking to ‘put one over’ on McLaren this season

During an appearance on Sky Sports F1’s recap of day four at Barcelona, Martin Brundle was asked about the rivalry that Mercedes and McLaren will share in the upcoming season.

The iconic F1 pundit began by highlighting how frustrated Wolff will have been in recent years through McLaren’s success, replying, “Can you imagine when Toto goes into a board meeting at Mercedes HQ, and they mention that McLaren, their customer team, has won the last two world championships.

“In 2025, they absolutely dominated it with nearly twice as many points as the next runner. So I don’t think Toto enjoys that a whole lot. He’s a supremely competitive man, and he’ll be looking to put one over on McLaren.

“Now, the do regulations control how they can’t just be the works team and then give the customer teams a substandard product. It’s very tightly controlled in that respect.

“They’ve had advanced knowledge of pretty much everything on that power unit, as it’s been developed and used in the simulator for months and months now. I’m sure they only tell McLaren what they have to tell them as late as they can get away with, I would if I was them.

“Mercedes will be desperate to beat McLaren this year, and McLaren, of course, vice versa.

“So, that could get pretty feisty. But then if Mercedes can’t win with their car, they’d rather it be another team with their power unit.”

Mercedes are currently contracted to supply the British constructor with power units until 2030, but there has been chatter behind the scenes at Brackley from key voices who want to ‘get rid’ of McLaren as an engine partner as soon as possible.

• READ MORE: Martin Brundle highlights potential Mercedes ‘problem’ despite ‘relentless’ pace in Barcelona test

Testing may not count… but comparisons always do 👀

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Mercedes impressed their F1 rivals during the first week of testing in Barcelona

With F1’s inaugural shakedown of the new 2026 ruleset now behind us, it’s difficult not to pick apart the little information that has been provided from the week of testing.

Despite it being very early days, Mercedes are looking like they have a decent package heading into the upcoming season of racing.

In fact, even their rivals down the pit lane have taken note of it. A change in ‘body language’ from Mercedes personnel has been highlighted, and they have even been reported to have switched focus to setup development rather than the reliability testing that everyone else was working on.

However, figures at Mercedes aren’t keen on being labelled as the favourites just yet, hoping to curb any premature predictions of them returning to their perch at the top of the standings before the season has even got underway.