F1: If you are behind, the cost cap makes it hard to catch up – Wolff

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The FIA shortened the DRS zone in Baku without asking the drivers for their opinion, and as a result the race was a rather borefest.

“Even if you are within 0.2secs, it is nearly impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes a mistake.”

However, Wolff stopped short of saying the new rules introduced in 2022 were at fault.

“After a race weekend like this, we mustn’t talk it down overall and say it is the wrong direction, and we need to change completely,” he said.

“It is more about asking why it wasn’t entertaining, and revisit it.

“We need to look at how we can avoid a boring race.”

“You have two cars sailing off into the sunset on merit and there is a 20-second gap, and I wouldn’t know between Aston Martin and Ferrari and us who was quicker because you are stuck where you are stuck and that is pretty much it.”

Wolff said that Mercedes’ lack of performance was “more about ride control than sheer downforce”.

“You can see their car is barely moving, be it on straights or over bumps,” Wolff said of the Red Bull. “Corner-through balance looks easy. You look at all the other onboards and the cars are tricky. Generally, ground-effect cars are rubbish cars, it is just who has the least rubbish is ahead.”

However, he said it was the responsibility of the other teams to catch up with Red Bull.

“We see a pattern,” Wolff said. “There are two Red Bulls, and then there are six cars, and a long way off is the third division. That has been the pattern the first four races and we have to shake that up somehow.

“They were 20 seconds ahead of [Ferrari’s Charles] Leclerc after 40 racing laps, so it is half a second a lap. At least we have seen they were pushing, so that is the real pace. Half a second is quite a long way to go.

“We either have to do a better job all of us together to catch them or change the regulations, and I don’t think we should be doing the second one. We just need to win on merit and that means being more clever than Red Bull.”

Wolff said that prior to the cost cap implementation they would have already brought an entirely new car to race, but now they must be clever in how they spend their money, or risk a cost cap breach.

As good as the cost cap is in keeping costs in check, it has the downside of stopping the teams making more significant changes to try and catch up.

Of course, without a cost cap, Red Bull might deliver an entire new car and stretch their advantage – hence it is like a dog chasing its tail.