Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff ‘lost his s***’ at a meeting with fellow principals in Montreal

Toto Wolff ‘lost his s***’ at a meeting of team principals here in Montreal yesterday, according to sources.

One insider said the Mercedes boss launched into a ‘wide-eyed rant’ because he thinks his rivals are ganging up on him over the bouncing problems his team are experiencing with their car.

Another source said Wolff went full ‘Abu Dhabi spec’ – a reference to the Austrian’s meltdown when Lewis Hamilton lost out on the title at the closing race in the Gulf last year.

Toto Wolff claims his fellow team principals are ganging up on him over bouncing issues

Wolff is said to have accused the other team bosses of deliberately perpetuating a safety issue by refusing to alter the regulations introduced this year, which have led to the Mercedes cars ‘porpoising’ – the phenomenon of a car bouncing hard on its suspension.

In response, Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Wolff to get his own house in order.

I understand his rivals were sceptical about the circumstances surrounding an additional ‘floor-stay’ Mercedes were running on their cars in practice. The stay is a metal tube that limits the amount the floor can move, thus making the ride smoother.

In particular, eyebrows were raised over how Mercedes could have designed the part so soon after an FIA technical directive was issued on Thursday, in which the stay was allowed on safety grounds.

Rivals privately wonder whether Mercedes were tipped off by the FIA in advance. ‘How did they know?’ asked one senior team executive.

Nobody from the FIA was available for comment last night.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has only finished in the top three once this season 

Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer said his team could ‘not have engineered the part in a day’.

Mercedes removed the stay before qualifying, claiming it did not help them. The alternate theory is that they took it off because they would have faced a protest on the arcane basis that the regulations trump the technical directive and the regs do not permit the use of an additional floor-stay.

In separate news, former Mercedes employee Shaila-ann Rao, has been appointed the FIA’s secretary general for sport on a temporary basis.