Walter Wolf - F1 victim of politics and too much engineering

Former Formula 1 team owner Walter Wolf, who owned the eponymous outfit - Walter Wolf Racing - which raced between 1977 and 1979, believes manufacturer dominance today forbids any independent effort in F1.

The Canadian millionaire of Austrian descent successfully operated his own team in the late 70s, scoring three wins and second place in the Drivers' championship with Jody Scheckter.

Walter Wolf keeps a watchful on the world of Grand Prix racing, but bemoans the fact that politics and overwhelming manufacturer presence precludes independent teams from achieving any meaningful level of success in the sport.

"There are too much politics in F1", he said, speaking to Motorsport.com.
"Today, Mercedes is too big, as well as Ferrari, owned by Fiat. Both teams also have excellent managers."

Wolf cast a memory back to the days when a team could just go out and buy a Ford Cosworth DFV and bolt it on to the back of a basic design, forming an entity which could be competitive out of the box as his team proved in 1977 when Jody Scheckter won Wolf's inaugural GP in Argentina.

"We didn't have to produce the engine," he explained. "Cosworth built the Ford DFV, which was very good. Today, independent teams cannot get a competitive engine."

"Look at Williams, whose cars are powered by Mercedes engines. These engines are not the same as the Mercedes works team has. You can buy an engine, but you will not get the same as the works team."

But the Canadian also pointed the finger of blame at F1's engineering sophistication which now overrides a driver's input and ability, and believes the regulation changes for 2017 could not happen fast enough.

"I like very much the new set of regulations that will be applied for 2017. Nowadays, the car is doing almost 85% of the work. When they'll go back to normal things in 2017 the situation will change. And then you'll see Ferrari and Vettel emerge."

The Ferrari driver clearly ranks at the top of Walter Wolf's scorecard.

"For me the best driver in the world - and not because I have a German background - is Vettel. Not Lewis Hamilton. Lewis is very good, but he has an excellent car. The engine in that Mercedes is unbelievable. But Vettel will be world champion again, if not this year, then next year."

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