Toto Wolff cannot rejoice that McLaren has become world champion with a Mercedes engine: the factory team has priority
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff does not see much cause for celebration in the fact that McLaren, one of his customer teams, has become Formula 1 drivers’ and constructors’ world champion, even though this also means Mercedes has won a title. Nevertheless, he concedes that his engine team has reason to celebrate this success.
McLaren has been racing with Mercedes engines from HPP (High Performance Powertrains) since 2021 and became constructors’ world champions in 2024 with their powertrains. In 2025, they repeated the feat and also clinched the drivers’ title with Lando Norris.
But for Wolff, that’s just a side note: “HPP’s raison d’être is to win world championships with the works team – that’s Mercedes,” he clarifies in the Beyond the Grid podcast. But: “To ensure economic efficiency and to be able to use the power unit as a test bench and for comparison with the works team, it’s good that we supply customer teams,” he knows. And if a customer team wins the world championship with the engines, then that should also be recognized. “There will always be a part of [engine chief] Hywel [Thomas] and also of HPP that can be happy when their power unit has won a championship,” says Wolff.
However, his view as the person responsible for the works team is different: if the engine is good enough to win a world championship, then the car was not good enough to beat McLaren. “That’s the simple fact,” says the Austrian.
The aim is to change this shortcoming again in 2026 so that the Silver Arrows can once more reap the trophies themselves—and not the customer teams, which are important for reference, faster development, and better solutions, as Wolff emphasizes.
“But we are here because Mercedes gives us the opportunity to decorate the most important showcase—so that the works team wins,” he says. Because: “No one else is interested in any kind of customer success outside our little microcosm.”
“What counts is the Mercedes team,” says Wolff. “And then there’s the McLaren team. And then there’s the Williams team. And we always keep that in mind.”