Wolff praises: 'Honda has climbed Mount Everest since returning to F1'

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is happy to play the role of underdog in the 2021 title fight. Compliments are pouring in for Red Bull Racing and engine supplier Honda.

Red Bull won't be beaten easily in 2021

Red Bull got off to a rocket start and were able to attack Mercedes directly in the first few races of 2021. From the Monaco Grand Prix onwards, Red Bull was in top gear, winning consecutive races. According to Wolff, the two teams are now at about the same level. "At the moment we are not inferior to Red Bull, whereas at the beginning of this season we clearly were," he says in conversation with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Wolff is asked if Lewis Hamilton could win ten world titles, but the Austrian cannot say yes to that: "First you have to win the eighth and ninth. That is not a given. Now we have to focus on the second half of the season and beat Red Bull."

Honda wants to leave F1 with the title

Red Bull will draw a lot of power from the strong Honda engine in 2021. Wolff says he has great respect for the Japanese engine builder. "For me it was clear that Honda would be strong this year: they want to leave F1 with a world championship in their pocket. I have respect for the Japanese. They have climbed Mount Everest since they returned to F1 in 2015. If I wasn't running Mercedes, I would wish them success."

However, one of those engines Honda built does appear to have been damaged to such an extent by Max Verstappen's crash at Silverstone that it can no longer be used. Wolff doesn't see that as a problem for Red Bull though. "They have such a strong package that even if they had to start from the pit lane, with the right strategy they would finish in the top three."