Toto Wolff names the rival F1 team ‘to be reckoned with’ after what he’s heard

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Mercedes have enjoyed a resurgence this season to return to winning Grand Prix, but team principal Toto Wolff is excited by the idea of a rival outfit joining the best crews.

The Silver Arrows stomached their first winless season since 2011 last year with the Brackley squad still yet to get a grip of the ground effect regulations. Mercedes seemed set to see out another frustrating time this term, too, before turning a corner with their upgrades at Imola.

Continued progress with their W15 package saw George Russell win the Austrian Grand Prix in June, thanks to Max Verstappen crashing with Lando Norris. The team’s first win on merit then followed as Lewis Hamilton secured his record ninth British Grand Prix win yet this July.

Toto Wolff backs Adrian Newey to make Aston Martin a force in Formula 1

Hamilton even winning the Belgian Grand Prix after Russell was disqualified further showed Mercedes are on the right track. But while they sit fourth in the constructors’ championship with six rounds to play, they trail McLaren by 187 points, Red Bull by 146 and Ferrari by 112.

Aston Martin are the best of the rest in fifth place but a massive 243 points from Mercedes ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Yet Wolff believes Aston Martin will soon be a team ‘to be reckoned with’ after Lawrence Stroll convinced Adrian Newey to join in March 2025.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Red Bull announced that their chief technical officer is to leave the team this May and Wolff confirms Mercedes considered hiring Newey. Instead, he will move to Silverstone with Stroll giving Newey shares in Aston Martin to help lead the design of their 2026 regulations F1 car.

Stroll gave him a stake in Aston Martin and the title of managing technical partner as Newey is the most successful person in F1 history. He has designed 12 constructors’ and 13 drivers’ title-winning cars to date. So, Wolff is confident that Newey will now improve Aston Martin.

Wolff said, via quotes by Motorsport-Magazin: “Adrian’s time in F1 speaks for itself. He is the best designer in Formula 1 if you look at the statistics. This will be a package to be reckoned with.”

Aston Martin becoming a team who can strike fear into F1’s established lead order would be a “fantastic” sight for Wolff. The Mercedes boss would love to see further outfits get into the fight with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari to make the show of Formula 1 even more exciting.

Why did Toto Wolff not want Adrian Newey at Mercedes?

Wolff may have put a huge dent into Aston Martin’s plans if he had convinced Newey to join Mercedes. But while the Silver Arrows did consider offering the design icon a job, talks with technical director James Allison convinced Wolff that Mercedes have the right staff already.

“Every team thought about it,” Wolff continued. “James and I discussed it. We came to the conclusion that we have confidence in the structure we have. We have a lot of respect for Newey, but we ruled that out because we have confidence in our team.”