Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has calmly responded to the growing speculation surrounding the deepening technical collaboration between Red Bull Racing and its sister team, Alpha Tauri, in Formula 1. While there has been increased scrutiny on the exchange of components between the two teams, Wolff, a key adversary of Red Bull’s Christian Horner, has remained composed in his reaction.

Despite Horner vehemently denying any resemblance to the ‘pink Mercedes’ controversy involving Racing Point in 2020, reports indicate a substantial level of component sharing between Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri in 2023. Auto Motor und Sport highlighted this collaboration as the “largest upgrade workload of all the teams” for the year, with 65 detail changes, including the addition of “six new floors alone,” in 18 of the 22 races.

Competitors have taken note of Alpha Tauri’s improved performance, with Williams’ boss James Vowles acknowledging their enhanced downforce. However, he explained that Williams chose not to engage in a development race with Alpha Tauri towards the end of the season, recognizing the trade-off between short-term gains and long-term development.

In the midst of these developments, the question arises: does Mercedes feel uneasy about this strengthened technical alliance with its key rival, Red Bull? Wolff, maintaining his composure, shared his perspective by stating that he only noticed Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda securing sixth place in qualifying in Abu Dhabi. While expressing happiness for Alpha Tauri fans, Wolff emphasized his lack of concern, noting the transparent nature of the sport and stating that he hasn’t delved into the details yet, but expects others to scrutinize the situation. Overall, he conveyed that he hasn’t devoted much thought to the matter.