Formula 1 may significantly lose speed with the introduction of the 2026 regulations as they stand now, Toto Wolff acknowledges.
While many anticipate Mercedes will excel under the new rules, Wolff himself is anxious about the laptimes currently projected from simulations.
"What we need are cars that have as little drag as possible on the straights, but still have enough downforce to be fast in the corners," he shared with Austrian broadcaster ORF.
The high reliance on the electrical aspect of the hybrid engines for 2026 means that regulators are still refining the exact chassis specifications.
Wolff cautioned: "What we have now is much too slow. Sometimes we have laptimes that are ten seconds slower than today."
"But Formula 1 has always been the cradle of innovation and I am convinced that the cars will become fast again through what the engineers will come up with."
Despite potential decreases in speed, Wolff believes many fans might not notice significant changes in pace.
"The cars are still much faster than anything else that exists," Wolff pointed out. "You also have to realize that there is little difference for the television viewer."
"The Indycars look fast too, but they are 20 seconds slower than the Formula 1 cars."
However, Wolff is among those concerned about the radical shift towards 50 percent of the propulsion being electric by 2026.
"Perhaps there could have been a little less battery and a little more combustion engine," he suggested.
"After all, we will already be running entirely on sustainable fuel. That fuel is 100 percent sustainable, so we could certainly have made some adjustments. But anyway, it's too late for that now."
