'21 rule changes “targeted” Mercedes, Wolff doesn't want the same for Red Bull

The FIA made significant changes to the floor area for the 2021 season after Mercedes dominated the previous season with their monstrous W11.

The W11 is widely regarded as the fastest F1 car in history, taking pole position at 16 of the 17 races that year, allowing Lewis Hamilton to take his seventh world title.

For 2021, the change put Mercedes, and other low rake cars (like Racing Point) on the backfoot, while Red Bull benefitted.

Ultimately Max Verstappen went on to take his maiden F1 title at Hamilton’s expense.

"I think we probably lost the 2021 drivers' championships for many reasons,” Wolff said at Monza.

“One was the final race. We also lost it because those regulations were set in place in order to reduce the advantage that we had. 2020 was a super dominant year for us. I think it was the best car we ever had.

“Towards the end of the season they changed the regulations by cutting the floor out, and that was to stop us. You could see the results in 2021, we were not as competitive as Red Bull was, but in Silverstone we unlocked more potential of the car and got us back in the championship.

“But back in the day, these regs were clearly targeted to re-establish the pecking order.”

Despite the FIA targeting Mercedes in the past, Wolff is firmly against them doing the same with Red Bull, despite Verstappen winning the last nine races in a row.

"As a team principal I don't want to jump on a bandwagon that others have done in the past, of saying 'we need to change the regulations because we can't continue with the dominance of a team'. If a team in a way dominates in a way Max has done with Red Bull, then fair do's. This is a meritocracy," he added.

"As long as you comply to the regulations, technical, sporting and financial, you just need to say well done. It is up to us to catch up and if that takes a long time, then it takes a long time.

"I remember people crying foul when it was us. Entertainment follows sport and not the other way around. We cannot be WWE, scripted content. We don't want to be scripted content."