Toto Wolff has been leading the Mercedes F1 team for the last ten years. He has been one of the most successful team bosses in the history of Formula One with the Silver Arrows. Later, Red Bull retained the constructor title in 2022, ending the streak of Mercedes. And in 2023, the Austrian outfit in F1 won again. But Mercedes all of a sudden fell further behind. Toto Wolff has been facing a tough time with Mercedes since 2022. But more than that, he wishes to help Lewis Hamilton win his eighth title.
However, Mercedes has won only one race since 2022. That victory came in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. But Toto Wolff never had a winless season with Mercedes before the 2023 season. Hence, things keep getting more challenging for Wolff and his F1 team. On top of that, David Croft questioned the leadership of the Mercedes boss last season.
F1 Commentator Questioned The Decision-Making Of Toto Wolff During The Challenging 2023 Season
Recently, David Croft told the Sky F1 Podcast that the difficult last season showed a different side to Toto Wolff. Since Mercedes is not winning much, in fact, they haven’t been winning at all, fans and experts can see a different side to the Mercedes boss compared to the previous seasons. Moreover, Croft wondered what stopped Mercedes from using a different concept. Adding to that, Croft said they didn’t start with a car that was befitting of where the Silver Arrows wanted to be. Anyhow, Croft feels Toto Wolff was right to sign both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell up to new contracts. Croft feels it was a massive plus point because Mercedes did end in second place. And in terms of drivers, Mercedes has the best lineup, feels the F1 commentator. But what can Wolff do to get Mercedes back to their glory days?
Ted Kravitz, Sky F1’s pitlane reporter, feels Wolff is still the best leader looking from the outside. It looks like his team will go to war with Wolff, as he instills that leadership. But one thing that Kravitz didn’t like about Toto Wolff was his keenness to throw the old concept away. Both Croft and Kravitz agreed that Wolff should have signed off on the concept. W13 and W14 were both not great cars. Moreover, Croft feels Toto Wolff didn’t look assured at all throughout the 2023 season. Additionally, Croft asked if Wolff’s leadership was proactive or reactive in 2023. Moreover, the experts believe the idea not to throw away the concept was reactive. But the biggest plus point of Mercedes since 2014 has been not following any trend. Instead, other teams used to follow the German team. But that has not been the case past two years.
How The Hamilton-Wolff Duo Changed Mercedes And F1’s History?
Before Wolff joined the team, Mercedes was not looking like a team to dominate the grid. Back then, Ferrari and McLaren were the most dominant teams. Later, Red Bull started dominating in 2010 and continued till 2013. However, when the Austrian billionaire executive became the team principal of the German F1 team, something changed the course of the sport. On top of that, Lewis Hamilton signed with Mercedes in the same year as Wolff.
Nobody knew what would follow and if Red Bull’s hegemony would ever end. But the regulation changes that started the turbo-hybrid era saw a new team reach the F1 summit. For eight years in a row, Mercedes won every title there was to win, making Toto Wolff the most successful team principal of that era. Then it seemed like Toto Wolff and Mercedes would remain unbeatable until Max Verstappen broke the streak in the 2021 Driver’s Championship.
