Reaction to Toto Wolff’s 2026 400km/h claim – Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has set tongues wagging in the Formula One paddock after suggesting that the combination of 2026 power units and the radical aerodynamics of the next-generation cars could push top speeds as high as 400 km/h.

The fastest ever speed recorded by a Formula One car is 397.36 km/h delivered by Honda back in 2002. In the end, while they fell just shy of the 400 km/h target, the BAR Honda team achieved something remarkable. They had created the fastest F1 car ever to run on the Bonneville salt flats, demonstrating the ingenuity and dedication that defines motorsport engineering.

Of course this was a straight line test of an F1 car and it required the team to run a shadow rear wing, with little downforce and drag. Whilst it complied with F1 regulations at the time, a fin needed to be added to prevent the car from spinning at high speed.

 

 

 

Ocon says 400 kp/h “scary”

Now Wolff has revealed that Mercedes simulations are showing, the actual top speed of the revolutionary 2026 cars can reach the benchmark which Honda failed to achieve. Unsurprisingly, F1 drivers were quick to respond to the claim ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, though not all were convinced by Wolff’s optimism.

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, whose team will soon run Mercedes power units, was quick to pour cold water on the claim. “I don’t believe stories, I only believe what I see,” he said. The French driver suggested that while 400 km/h might be possible with extreme modifications the figure did not seem realistic based on his own simulator work. “I’m not too sure where that comes from, to be honest. But if my car goes 400, I’ll be happy,” he quipped.

Gasly’s former Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon admitted he had yet to drive the 2026 car in the simulator, but even so, Wolff’s numbers gave him pause for thought. “These 380 to 400 km/h figures sound scary when people talk about them,” Ocon admitted, adding that he would reserve judgment until he experienced the car himself.

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Leclerc less certain of a “rocketship”

Aston Martin’s reserve driver was euphoric over the performance of the team’s virtual car in the simulator, “Coming out of the corners, the car accelerates like crazy,” said the 2022 F2 champion. “You feel like you’re sitting on a rocket.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc struck a more nuanced tone. Having sampled the car in Ferrari’s simulator, he acknowledged that active aerodynamics and front-wing DRS could make Wolff’s claim plausible. Yet Leclerc emphasised that development is moving rapidly, and that what feels unusual today could be normal tomorrow. “Every time you are on the simulator it changes, and it changes a lot,” he explained. “If we reach those speeds, it will be impressive. But we have to wait and see.”

Home favourite Max Verstappen treated the claim with both humour and pragmatism. Smiling, he joked: “Maybe Toto’s engine will,” a playful nod to Mercedes’ recent struggles against Red Bull. But he quickly turned serious, noting that the FIA is unlikely to allow cars to routinely approach 400 km/h. “I think the FIA has already explained it fairly well, that they don’t allow that on certain circuits,” Verstappen said. He added that regulators are mindful of balancing energy use and outright speed, and would intervene if things became unsafe.

This week the news came through that the FIA will in fact restrict the amount at Monaco and Singapore, where such surges of electric pace would be dangerous on the exit of the tunnel in Monte Carlo and around the twisty circuit at the Marina Bay.

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Wolff clarifies his claims

When asked at the team principals press conference in Zandvoort to explain his dramatic claim, Wolff smiled and mischievously replying: “Its sounds good no? Everyone is talking those engines down so I had to figure out is there anything positive and that is. If you were to deploy all the energy on a single straight you could make those cars go 400 km/h. I don’t know if somebody got afraid by it, but we could. But there wouldn’t be much electrical energy left for the other few corners on the track.”

Now, let us pause to consider Toto Wolff’s 400 km/h dream. On one level, it is the stuff of headline-grabbing bravado, the kind of number you drop into conversation when you want to remind everyone that Mercedes still has swagger. On another level, it sounds rather like a fish that got away kind of story: Toto swears he caught a 400 km/h car, but in the retelling, the straight gets longer, the gearbox with bigger ratio’s, and Monza somehow loses its first chicane.

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One team may attempt a time trial

The drivers’ reactions painted the picture beautifully. Gasly looked like a man politely declining a tall tale at the pub. Ocon appeared spooked by the very idea, already envisioning himself strapped to a rocket. Leclerc, ever the diplomat, acknowledged the potential but effectively told everyone not to take it as fact just yet. And Verstappen? He did what Verstappen does best — cracked a joke at a rival’s expense before reminding us all that the FIA is the ultimate referee.

Stripped of the hype, the real question is whether Formula One wants or needs cars capable of hitting 400 km/h. For the engineers, the prospect is exhilarating. For the FIA, it represents a regulatory headache. For the drivers, it is both thrilling and frightening. And for the fans, it may simply be another number in the endless arms race of speed. After all, 400 looks fantastic in a headline, but if it is only achievable in a straight-line party trick, its significance may prove limited.

However, the 2026 cars may well be faster than Honda’s specially prepared BAR back in 2002. No doubt at least one team will give the time trial a go at some deserted airfield (if the FIA allow it), simply because it wold be writing F1 history.

 

 

 

Piastri mistakes masked, while Norris gets the blame

This year the Formula One drivers’ title will be going to one of the McLaren duo. With Max Verstappen in third place in the standings but some 97 points behind Oscar Piastri the leader, the final ten races of the season will be about whether Lando Norris or his Aussie team mate becomes an F1 champion for the first time.

In their two prior seasons together Lando Norris with his four extra years of experience in the sport has been the clear winner in the McLaren team mate duel. He finished ahead of Piastri last year by a hefty 82 points which was an improvement for the Australian on his rookie seasons deficit to Norris of 108 points.

With McLaren building the dominant car for 2025, expectations were that once again Norris would come out ahead in the intra team battle at Woking, yet right from there off in Australia Piastri looked a different driver when compared to previous years…. READ MORE