Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that Formula 1's cost cap has played its part in halting the Silver Arrow's dominance of the sport, despite admitting that Red Bull are "just doing a better job" than them at the moment.
Having won eight consecutive championships in a row, Red Bull now look all but set to claim a third title in as many years as they hit back with a dominant era of their own.
And Wolff, who was recently asked how it feels to be second to Red Bull, would do anything to get the team back to winning ways.
“It is significant, and I would give up every profit just to win on track," he told CNBC's Squawk on the Street.
“For a normal business owner that may sound crazy but it’s how we are calibrated. It’s the stopwatch that counts, less so the P&L [profit and loss].
Toto Wolff (R) is desperate for Mercedes to put an end to Max Verstappen's (L) dominance of F1
“Now the cost cap has changed everything in our environment and we’re not allowed to spend above a certain amount, and therefore [we have] become a sustainable business case as well.
“Mercedes dominated for a long time, we won eight consecutive championships, and now Red Bull is just doing a better job.
“It’s a meritocracy, best engineering wins, and as long as you respect the rules – the technical, sporting, and financial rules – we just need to stretch ourselves and beat them.”
Wolff: Mercedes need to stop 'a scripted series'
Wolff was also asked if Max Verstappen's dominance of the sport is ruining F1. And despite the Mercedes chief believing that fans want to see different winners, he conceded that the Dutchman is deserving of his time in the spotlight.
"I think people want variability and unpredictability, but in our business, entertainment follows sport. With rules, and the one who is beating everybody else under the current rules just merits the win.
Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell celebrate on the podium after the Spanish Grand Prix
"Clearly we would like to have more different winners but it's our task to beat them and not create a scripted series.
“We’ve done a few mis-steps on the engineering side, on our technical decisions,” he added. “But it’s physics, not mystics, and therefore we will be coming back.
“We’ve had a good result last weekend [at Barcelona] finishing second and third and it’s just a matter of time to catch up, I have no doubt about it.”
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