Toto Wolff reveals his “biggest mistake” in F1

Toto Wolff opened up about his biggest mistake as Mercedes F1 Team Principal amidst the team's performance slump.

Toto Wolff reveals his “biggest mistake” in F1

Toto Wolff (Via IMAGO)

Toto Wolff has led Mercedes to historic success in Formula 1. The Brackley-based team won eight consecutive Constructors’ championships between 2014 and 2021. However, the Silver Arrows have struggled to match its rivals in the past two seasons. Now, Wolff has admitted that he made a wrong decision in 2022.

The 51-year-old claimed that going with the ambitious zero sidepod design concept was the biggest mistake in his F1 career. Wolff acknowledged that it was not the correct path for the Brackley-based team. Moreover, the team’s decision to further develop this concept for 2023 was the next biggest mistake in the eyes of the Austrian billionaire. 

It has been my biggest mistake in recent years. We missed the approach to building the car for the 2022 season, we didn't take the right path. Confirming this concept in 2023 was the second big mistake.
Toto Wolff told Bild

Toto Wolff mentioned that he decided to let the team continue this path after the 2022 Brazilian GP. George Russell came home to bring the team’s only victory that year at Interlagos. As such, Mercedes was convinced that the zero side-pods could bring in results in 2023. However, that was not the case as the Silver Arrows switched to a more conventional set-up in Monaco this season.

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but I defend this choice, because in the end we had won in Brazil. Each team would take that weekend as the basis for the new season. More than half of the team believed that the situation was recovering.

Toto Wolff trying to balance criticism in the media

The Austrian billionaire has publicly slammed his team on a couple of occasions in the past two years. However, Wolff claimed that he was still trying to find the balance regarding criticizing his squad in public. The Mercedes team boss believed that many of his employees would be motivated by his aggressive nature in press conferences as he strives to make progress.

In the criticisms of the team in front of the media it is a game of balances that I have not been able to master perfectly. I think many employees are motivated when they see that their boss is ambitious.
Toto Wolff (image via PlanetF1)
Toto Wolff (image via PlanetF1)

However, the 51-year-old admitted that he has crossed the line a few times. Moreover, Toto Wolff claimed that he has even resorted to chamomile tea in a bid to calm down before giving interviews. Additionally, the Austrian billionaire has gone back to Brackley to apologize to his team when he felt that he was too harsh on its efforts.

But sometimes I happen to cross the line, then I have to take a chamomile tea before the interviews, in order to calm down: if I was too hard, on Monday I go back to the factory and apologize.

Certainly, Toto Wolff has not been shy of criticizing his squad since Mercedes fell in the pecking order this season. The 51-year-old has been vocal about the team’s shortcomings compared to rivals. However, it remains to be seen if the Silver Arrows can get back to winning ways next season.

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