Toto Wolff: For Mercedes, “it is not ideal to lose McLaren”
Toto Wolff admits that losing McLaren as a customer team is not ideal but is confident in Mercedes' ability to find a replacement. The Austrian also welcomes a new engine manufacturer joining the ranks.

Having formalized their partnership with Honda starting in 2015, McLaren will therefore leave the Mercedes fold after a twentieth and final season of collaboration. “Losing a customer is never ideal, especially when it comes to a team like McLaren, which has been with Mercedes for so long and has achieved many successes with us,” admits Toto Wolff, competition director at Mercedes, to Speed Week.
The regret of losing a historic partner is followed, however, by the impatience of facing a new opponent: « Of course, it’s not pleasant, but it’s their decision. We are also looking forward to facing a new competitor in Formula 1: Honda is a leading manufacturer and, as the saying goes, competition is good for business, » relativizes the Austrian.
By the way, while Bernie Ecclestone also mentions the possibility of BMW returning, Toto Wolff is not worried about the arrival of new engine manufacturers in Formula 1, even though, for now, the star manufacturer sees its potential market share potentially reduced: Everyone has only limited capacities to supply customer teams. For us, it is somewhere between three or four teams and we are confident that, in the coming years, we will have at least three teams – powered by Mercedes – in Formula 1.
Indeed, there is no shortage of potential candidates, as besides Marussia, which has still not made its choice for 2014, Sauber could potentially be interested in the German V6, as its contract with Ferrari expires at the end of the season. But Lotus and Williams could also be tempted to compete with their current manufacturer, Renault. Indeed, according to paddock rumors in Barcelona, the French engine supplier would be the most expensive with an estimated bill of 23 million euros for the supply of its future turbo V6, compared to 20 million euros for the Mercedes engine and 15 million for the Ferrari engine.