Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has admitted he once considered leaving F1 in 2020 when his previous contract expired. However, he has instead decided to sign a further contract, which has made him more committed to F1 than ever and has no intention of going anywhere despite the team’s current predicament. said.
“This is my company and my team,” explained Wolff. “I’m one of three shareholders and I savor this opportunity every day,” he said. “This is no longer a project, it’s my company. The problem is I can’t even walk away. All I can do is develop people and change the scope in a way.” Wolff’s first role in F1 came in 2009 when he became a shareholder of the Williams Racing team. is. That quickly gave him a taste for more than just business investment, and he moved to Mercedes in 2013 to become team principal. As a result, under his leadership Silver Arrows entered a period of unprecedented success in the sport, winning eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 onwards. However, when his third three-year deal with the team expired in 2020, he was contemplating returning to business after his time in Formula 1 was over. “I really enjoyed it so much that I signed another three-year contract on 15/14/13, 18/17/2016 and another on 21/2019.” “In 2020, I don’t know if I want to keep doing this or not.” I thought, because when you’re 50, you’re mature and you’re no longer a team manager.” Wolff said the original intention was to “buy stocks and sell stocks, like investing in the financial industry.” “In 2020, I came to the conclusion that I will continue to do this,” he said. “For the first time in my life, I changed my business strategy. , ‘buy, develop, maintain.’ That was a big change.” “I wanted to become a real entrepreneur and keep this forever.” I don’t want to go back to an industry that I’ve been in for 25 years.” “It was a moment to keep going. Before, it was always linked to the length of the contract, now it’s not anymore,” Wolff said of Daimler. Together with AG and Ineos, the multinational chemical company headed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which is currently in talks to buy Manchester United football club, it owns a third of the race team. Problems with last year’s car saw Mercedes slump to third in the 2022 rankings behind Red Bull and Ferrari. 2023 got off to a bad start, but with Lewis Hamilton’s second-place finish at the recent Australian Grand Prix, the team is expected to start on the road to seriously challenging for wins and titles again.