Toto Wolff reveals he offered to resign from Mercedes “several times”

Toto Wolff has revealed he offered to resign from his position during Mercedes’ recent Formula 1 struggles but was blocked from doing so. 

Mercedes clinched its ninth constructors’ world championship last time out in Brazil, marking the German manufacturer’s first title triumph since 2021. 

With Andrea Kimi Antonelli also wrapping up the drivers’ title at the previous race in Mexico, Mercedes is celebrating its first world championship double since 2020. 

It came after a period of struggles during the ground-effect era between 2022 and 2025, in which Mercedes failed to compete for the world championship and claimed just seven race victories, compared to 12 so far this season. 

Mercedes failed to conquer the ground-effect regulations, with its infamous ‘zeropod’ sidepod concept proving to be a major mistake that ended up being a development dead-end. 

Wolff claims he was prepared to resign as team principal several times during this period but said that his boss, Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Källenius, refused his attempts. 

“I’ve offered Ola [Källenius] my resignation several times over the past few years, but he’s always said: ‘You’ll keep doing this,’” Wolff revealed when speaking at the 2026 Golden Steering Wheel awards in Berlin. 

Reflecting on the barren run for Mercedes, Wolff said: “The thing is, when you are in these difficult moments, like we all are sometimes in our lives, it's not that easy to keep going. Because looking back in retrospect, you're saying, ‘We needed these tough moments in order to grow as people or to grow as an organisation’. But when you're down, that is quite difficult to feel.

“So looking back, I think those last four years were very difficult, between getting it wrong and then kind of understanding why it was wrong and then realising, no, we didn't understand. And that was a big back and forth.

“But we will be looking back in 10 or 20 years, and when you look at the statistics, it wasn't that we were complete losers over those four years, because we finished [third, second, fourth, second successively]. We won races, many races.

“So it wasn't that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers, but it felt not good. And the resilience of the team – the people that held together in those tough times – is a factor.

“So it feels really good sealing those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after a consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell, and then coming back. So I'm really proud that we are part of this very small group of teams that have done that in all sports.”