Toto Wolff ‘proud’ of Mercedes turnaround after winning F1 2026 Constructors’ Championship at Sao Paulo Grand Prix | F1 News

Toto Wolff says he is “proud” of Mercedes’ turnaround to win the Formula 1 constructors’ championship in 2026 and believes very few sporting teams have come back so quickly.

Mercedes won their ninth constructors’ title on Sunday at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, five years after their last championship, which was their eighth in a row at the time.

Regulation changes in 2022 ended Mercedes’ dominance as they struggled to top the so-called ground-effect cars, but they have won the first season of the new cars in 2026, and also wrapped up the drivers’ championship earlier this month with Kimi Antonelli.

“The thing is, when you’re in these tough times, as we all are sometimes in our lives, it’s not that easy to keep going,” Wolff said.

“In retrospect, you’re saying, ‘we needed these tough times to grow as people or to grow as an organization.’ But when you’re down, that’s pretty hard to feel.

“I think those last four years were very difficult between the mistake, then realizing why it was wrong and then realizing no, we didn’t. That was a bit of back and forth.

“But we’ll look back in 10 or 20 years. When you look at the stats, it wasn’t like we were complete losers during those four years, because we finished second, (second), third, fourth (in the championship), we won races, we won a lot of races. So it wasn’t bad at all when you look at the big numbers, but it didn’t feel good.”

As Wolff points out, Mercedes still won races between 2022 and 2025, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton winning seven Grands Prix between them.

“I think the resilience of the team, of the people who stuck together in those difficult times, is a factor,” Wolff continued.

“It feels really good to seal those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after back-to-back championship runs, then a rough patch and then a comeback, so I’m really proud to be part of this very small group of teams that have done it across all sports.”

Wolff: Mercedes has 2,500 superstars

Mercedes are level with Williams with nine constructors’ titles – only McLaren (10) and Ferrari (16) have more in Formula 1 history.

Wolff says his pride comes from working hard at Mercedes’ UK factories in Brackley and Brixworth to produce the best car, on average, this season.

“Sometimes the drivers, or me, we’re so visible because we’re in front of the TV cameras, but there are so many people who are a part of this,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“I always say that there are no two superstars, the drivers, but there are 2,500 superstars, all of them have a great job, being all of us who contribute to such a championship.”

Mercedes were unable to finish with either of their drivers on the podium in Brazil as Lando Norris dominated in mixed conditions while Antonelli and Russell both spun.

Russell finished fourth, just ahead of Antonelli, who says everyone at Mercedes “deserves” this year’s success.

“They’ve had an incredible year and it’s a wonderful group of people, who every day push to do their best and give us the best chance to fight for victories and championships,” said the Italian. Sky Sports F1.

“This year they have done an incredible job and that is why they deserve this championship and we will enjoy it together.”

Russell added: “We achieved what we came here to do and won the constructors’ championship. We would have liked to have done it with a bit more style, but it’s a tremendous achievement for everyone in the team.

“We’ve had a difficult four years and the whole organization has done so much to get us back to this position. When I joined Mercedes in 2022, we were hoping to be regularly fighting for the championship, so to have come through that and now back at the top is something we should all be extremely proud of.”

Formula 1 next hits The Strip for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 from November 20-22. Stream Sky Sports with NOW