Toto Wolff has voiced his dissatisfaction with the compensation fee Cadillac F1 is expected to pay ahead of its debut in the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Although Liberty Media ultimately approved the eleventh team's entry into the sport, resistance remains strong from current teams concerned about the dilution of their commercial revenue share.
Initially set at $200 million, the fee designed to offset financial losses has reportedly been increased, with teams lobbying for an amount as high as $600 million.
Despite these objections, Mercedes boss and co-owner Toto Wolff acknowledged that the F1 project at Mercedes is now generating significant profits.
"Thanks to the budget cap and the Formula 1 boom, teams are earning money instead of burning it like they used to," Wolff told Auto Motor und Sport.
"We are making a real profit. The profitability ratio is 30 to 35 percent before taxes," he explained. "That even compensates for the costs of the engine.
The old cliché that Formula 1 just burns money is history. The bottom line is that Formula 1 has never been as healthy as it is today."
However, Wolff remains sceptical about Cadillac's inclusion in the sport.
"If they are coming now with a factory effort, investing a corresponding marketing budget in Formula 1, then that is an added value for Formula 1," said the Austrian.
He acknowledged that Cadillac might enhance F1's global presence but argued that the proposed compensation fee does not adequately address the immediate revenue losses.
"We lose initially," Wolff stated. "We don't know what Cadillac will invest in Formula 1.
"The compensation payment, which is currently said to be $450 million, is too low.
It doesn't compensate for the direct loss of income. Only time will tell what the sport will gain from an eleventh participant. We just don't know.
"No one has spoken to me about what Cadillac is planning exactly," Wolff concluded.
