Wolff comments on Mercedes' potential return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

08:31, 23 Jun

Updated: 11:07, 23 Jun

byOlly Darcy

Toto Wolff has discussed the possibility of Mercedes rejoining the action of the World Endurance Championship at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Mercedes last competed in the iconic endurance race in 1999, but an aerodynamically unstable car resulted in it becoming airborne, and since then, the German team have not entered the race's highest category, while McLaren announced they will join the WEC grid in 2027.

The Austrian CEO explained that a return to one of the biggest spectacles in the world of racing would be considered if the Balance of Performance regulation were removed from the sport.

"Le Mans... I'm a racer. The Le Mans 24 Hours is one of the greatest races in the world," Wolff explained on the Bloomberg Hot Pursuit podcast, when asked about the possibility of a Le Mans return.

The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans saw Ferrari claim a third consecutive win with the #83 AF Corse driven by Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson, and former F1 driver Robert Kubica.

"Formula 1, for me - obviously I'm biased - is the best there is. It's the best drivers, the quickest cars, the greatest tracks. But if I had to say what's next? Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indy 500. And then, for insiders, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. That, for me, is the top of the top.

"What it is for me today is, we are concentrating on the main platform, and that is Formula 1. It's what we want to do. It captures 99% of the audience. Everything else comes second."

Wolff sees Balance of Performance as a hindrance

After their struggles in 1999, only the GT3 class has seen Mercedes make a return, with a customer programme with the Italian outfit Iron Lynx the only bit of involvement the German team have with WEC and Le Mans.

"As Mercedes, it's something that we’ve done in the past," continued Wolff. "But we weren’t particularly... that wasn’t our happiest place.

"And then there's the little caveat to all this: at Mercedes, we are racing people. We don’t like BoPs - we don’t like Balance of Performance. We don’t like somebody assessing your power, your energy consumption, your weight, your driver skill...

"You spend so much time and money and effort developing the quickest car, and then you’re being given 10 kilogrammes of ballast," he continued. "I don’t want that. I just want to build the quickest car.

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"Formula 1 has shown how it should be done," the Austrian stated. "Give us a cost cap. Do more of that - give everybody a cost cap. You cannot spend more than - whatever you said - 30-40 million. And within this 30-40 million, you can do what you want. I mean, there are still regulations, but nobody needs to bluff in pre-season testing or qualifying. It’s pure racing.

"If that were to happen, then Le Mans would absolutely be something we would look at. But at the moment, with BoP - having some officials judge whether you’re too quick, adding 10 kilogrammes to your car or taking it out of someone else’s the next day - that’s not for us at the moment," concluded Wolff.