Here's why Wolff thinks Mercedes will be back to square one next year

For a long time, Formula 1 was accused of being boring and its races were often labelled as parades with predictable winners. The decision was then made to intervene and introduce rule changes that will come into effect in 2022. Just when we are at the start of the best season in years, everything will change next year.

Regulations

Bahrain and Imola offered up a real spectacle, both upfront and in the midfield. Only Haas seems to be the worst of the bunch this year. During the qualifying in Imola the first eight drivers were within half a second of each other. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is delighted with the result: "That's perfect," he says.

According to the Austrian, it is a logical consequence of years of the same rules: "If you stick to the rules, the field converges. For those at the front, the gains become smaller and smaller. Even with more effort" Wolff told Formel1.de. Mercedes seems to have a clear challenger for the title for the first time this year.

Incoherent field

Next year, however, that is about to change according to Wolff: "Just as I felt at the time when I said that this was the direction we should be going, I promise you that next year we will have a different situation where we have a totally disjointed field." Could that be a field where Mercedes is not in the lead? "Maybe not in the lead, but definitely back to square one."