Toto Wolff’s defence when asked if he’s still the right person to lead Mercedes
Toto Wolff responds to being quizzed if he's still the right man to lead Mercedes through F1 struggles.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has defended his job and feels no reason to step aside despite his team’s prolonged F1 struggles.
After claiming eight consecutive constructors’ world championships between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes have won just a single race in the last two seasons since new technical regulations were introduced in 2022.
Mercedes’ W13 and W14 challengers were plagued by performance problems and despite revamping their car design with their latest W15, 2024 is already looking like being another challenging campaign for the Silver Arrows.
The German manufacturer entered the new season hoping to challenge Red Bull for wins and podiums but have finished no higher than fifth in the opening three races.
Mercedes sunk to new depths at the Australian Grand Prix during a nightmare weekend that culminated in a double DNF.
After the Melbourne race, Wolff, who in January signed a new three-year contract to remain Mercedes team principal, faced questions about his future.
“As a co-owner of this business, I need to make sure that my contribution is positive and creative,” the Austrian replied when asked if he had considered relinquishing his position.
“So, I would be the first one to say, 'If somebody has a better idea, tell me’. I'm interested to turn this team around as quickly as possible.
“I'll happily give my input and see what that would be, who that could be. But we have a physics problem and not a philosophical or organisational problem, because we haven't swallowed a dumb pill since 2021.
“It's just we don't understand some of the behaviours of the car that in the past we would have always understood.
"I look myself in the mirror every single day about everything I do, and if I believe that I should ask the manager question or the trainer question, I think it's a fair question, but it's not what I feel at the moment that I should do.”
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake in Mercedes, stressed his situation is very different to that of the manager of a football team.
"The big difference is it's not like the manager question in terms of, this is my job, I'll stop the job and then somebody else is doing the job and I'll go to Chelsea or to Liverpool, or over to Ferrari,” he explained.
"I haven't got that choice, which is also unfortunate. I'm not a contractor or employee that says, 'I've had enough of this'. My hamster wheel keeps spinning and I can't jump out."
