Toto Wolff claims Red Bull have ‘one second’ advantage

Toto Wolff has installed Red Bull as the new “benchmark” team for 2026, claiming Max Verstappen was able to go “a second a lap” faster than everyone else on the straights on the opening morning of testing in Bahrain on Tuesday.

Mercedes had been widely considered the favourites for the upcoming season based on the fact their power unit was said to be best in class, thanks to exploiting a ‘loophole’ in compression ratio rules. 

However, while the argument over those rules continues to rage – Wolff on Wednesday called on the FIA and FOM, who have to sign off on any changes, to avoid siding with the “gamesmanship” of rival manufacturers – the Austrian said he had revised his opinion on the pecking order, describing Red Bull as “very much the benchmark”.

Speaking during the lunch break in Bahrain testing, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell had engaged in a long run head-to-head on the opening morning, Wolff said the compression ratio loophole was worth no more than “a few horsepower, maybe 2-3bhp”.

Red Bull’s superior energy deployment, on the other hand, was worth far more. “They [Red Bull] are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else,” Wolff said. “I mean, I’m speaking a second per lap, over consecutive laps.”