Toto Wolff blames Red Bull and Ferrari for F1 being ‘less entertaining’ this season

The Mercedes boss believes there is ‘too much performance gap’ between the teams so far this season

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull and Ferrari’s dominance at the top of the leaderboard is making Formula 1 “less entertaining” this season.

No team other than Red Bull and Ferrari have finished inside the top two positions on a race weekend after the first 11 Grands Prix of the season, with Mercedes earning seven spots on the podium and McLaren’s Lando Norris just one.

With Red Bull and Ferrari clearly ahead of the rest of the grid, Wolff emphasised that their dominance are not making for good racing, particularly in light of last week’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Championship leader Max Verstappen won the shortened Saturday race around the Red Bull Ring, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in battle behind the Dutchman.

The sprint was the second of three such events this season, after Verstappen won April’s in Imola too, with the third taking place in Brazil in November.

“I think the reason why races have less entertainment is because there’s just too much performance gap between the teams,” Wolff said.

“If you have Verstappen disappearing in a distance, the two Ferraris being the only entertainment during the race and then we are in the middle of nowhere in no man’s land.

“Then the others are further behind, and then you have DRS trains. That never can make a good sprint race.”

Mercedes, who have won the Constructors’ Championship in the last eight years, are currently third in this year’s standings having been troubled by bouncing and porpoising, giving discomfort to drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Yet recent races in Montreal, Silverstone and Spielberg have shown signs of improvement and Red Bull boss Christian Hornerbelieves the Silver Arrows will be “quick” this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix.

Mercedes are currently 122 points behind Red Bull in first and 66 points off Ferrari in second, and are yet to finish higher than third in any race.