Toto Wolff says the “very emotional” Fred Vasseur misunderstood his comments about Ferrari’s relentless upgrade push during the 2026 Formula 1 season. 

Mercedes team principal Wolff made headlines after the Austrian Grand Prix when he questioned how Ferrari could afford to be bringing so many updates to its car. 

Wolff’s comments were a reference to the €215m cost cap teams must adhere to while developing their respective cars over the course of the season. 

The Mercedes boss’s remarks came after Lewis Hamilton secured victory in Barcelona in Ferrari’s heavy-revised SF-26, before further upgrades arrived for the Maranello outfit in Austria. 

“We’re a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do,” Wolff said in Austria. 

“In my opinion, they need to be running out of cost cap money soon, because we can’t do that. We’re simply lacking the buffer in the cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do.”

Wolff’s comments appeared to anger Vasseur, who hit back with a spiky response ahead of the British Grand Prix. 

“I found it quite ironic coming from Toto and Mercedes,” the Frenchman told media including Crash.net at Silverstone. 

“When Red Bull is developing or when Mercedes is developing, they are genius. When we are developing, we are cheating. I think you have to calm down with this.

“We didn’t bring more parts than Red Bull or another [team]. I don’t know if it was a joke, but… If you think we overshoot the cost cap, for me it’s going into this direction [of accusing Ferrari of cheating].”

Wolff was asked about his friend’s stance on the matter following qualifying at the British Grand Prix. 

“Fred is very emotional,” Wolff told Sky Sports. “If you would have read my comments, rather than just a headline, he would have seen that what I said was an observation and would be interesting to see how much updates one can pull out at the end of the season.

“But it’s just the emotionality that we all have and being passionate about team success, and I’m fine with that.”

When asked if he felt Vasseur had taken his comments out of context, Wolff replied: “I know it was misunderstood.

“If I say things that I want to be understood, I will do so too, but in that case, I didn’t mean it really.”

Toto Wolff says the “very emotional” Fred Vasseur misunderstood his comments about Ferrari’s relentless upgrade push during the 2026 Formula 1 season. 

Mercedes team principal Wolff made headlines after the Austrian Grand Prix when he questioned how Ferrari could afford to be bringing so many updates to its car. 

Wolff’s comments were a reference to the €215m cost cap teams must adhere to while developing their respective cars over the course of the season. 

The Mercedes boss’s remarks came after Lewis Hamilton secured victory in Barcelona in Ferrari’s heavy-revised SF-26, before further upgrades arrived for the Maranello outfit in Austria. 

“We’re a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do,” Wolff said in Austria. 

“In my opinion, they need to be running out of cost cap money soon, because we can’t do that. We’re simply lacking the buffer in the cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do.”

Wolff’s comments appeared to anger Vasseur, who hit back with a spiky response ahead of the British Grand Prix. 

“I found it quite ironic coming from Toto and Mercedes,” the Frenchman told media including Crash.net at Silverstone. 

“When Red Bull is developing or when Mercedes is developing, they are genius. When we are developing, we are cheating. I think you have to calm down with this.

“We didn’t bring more parts than Red Bull or another [team]. I don’t know if it was a joke, but… If you think we overshoot the cost cap, for me it’s going into this direction [of accusing Ferrari of cheating].”

Wolff was asked about his friend’s stance on the matter following qualifying at the British Grand Prix. 

“Fred is very emotional,” Wolff told Sky Sports. “If you would have read my comments, rather than just a headline, he would have seen that what I said was an observation and would be interesting to see how much updates one can pull out at the end of the season.

“But it’s just the emotionality that we all have and being passionate about team success, and I’m fine with that.”

When asked if he felt Vasseur had taken his comments out of context, Wolff replied: “I know it was misunderstood.

“If I say things that I want to be understood, I will do so too, but in that case, I didn’t mean it really.”