Wolff: Teams threat of 'going legal' against FIA just 'posing'

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has dismissed as mere theatrics or "posing" rival teams' threat to legally challenge the FIA's plan to tweak the technical regulations for 2023.

As part of its efforts to eradicate porpoising in F1 and to prevent a car's floor from flexing beyond the authorized limit, the FIA is expected to introduce four specific provisions into the 2023 tech rules.

The measures include raising the car's floor edges by 25mm, lifting the diffuser throat, imposing more stringent lateral deflection tests and the introduction of a sensor to monitor aerodynamic vertical oscillation.

The FIA has justified its unilateral decision to impose the new measures on the ground of safety.

But a united group of teams led by Red Bull and Ferrari are contesting the governing body's plans, insisting the potential changes are not justified.

• Read also: Horner says it's too late to change 2023 floor rules

The group is calling for compromise measures which has led to suggestions that if the latter cannot be achieved, legal action could be the teams' next course of action, while Ferrari could also exploit its veto right to kill the FIA's plan.

But an unimpressed Wolff, whose team could benefit from the 2023 changes according to Red Bull, is calling the group's bluff.

"You wonder why they are fighting so hard," said Wolff, commenting on a potential legal recourse.

"Because I read in the media that it’s not relevant, it’s not a big change, so why are you fighting [so much] that you’re threatening to go legal?

"No team is ever going to go legal against the FIA, number one. Plus, if the FIA decides to implement something on safety grounds. I'd be watching guys. So I think this is just posing."

Wolff agrees with the FIA's stance on safety regarding porpoising, insisting the issue hasn't been at the forefront of the teams' concerns lately due to the tracks recently visited tracks.

"I think it's just business as usual," he said. "There is an inherent issue of cars that we are not seeing here, that we've not seen in Austria, neither did we see it in Silverstone, because the tracks are the flattest of the year. But it didn't go away.

"The cars are way too stiff and they bounce. And if you ask the driver, you will probably have a majority that will, if asked anonymously, tell you that.

"I think there was such a discussion among the drivers and there's also an outcome that nobody talks about. And I think we'll see where that goes."

Asked whether Mercedes would accept a compromise measure, with a car's floor raised by 10mm rather than 25mm, Wolff harked back to the safety argument.

"I think it's not a matter of compromise about technical regulations, it is about technical regulations that protect the drivers and, if these cars are too stiff and too bouncy, then let's do something right now about it," argued the Austrian.

"Clearly when you're running in the front you just want to just make sure that nothing changes, and when you're not running at the front, you want to make sure that a lot changes.

"So these are the two spectrums of positions that this is really about. Let's just ask the drivers."

Wolff also derided claims by Red Bull chief Christian Horner that Mercedes is lobbying the FIA for changes but only has its own competitive interest at heart.

"I think he's just bored at the front. So good for him," he said. "Trying to work with the FIA is always part of it.

"I don't know what he refers to because, at the end, we are all part of the same circus. We work with the same stakeholders. Is he not lobbying? He sits in his office, he doesn't call anyone, and does his thing?"

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