Toto Wolff remains determined to win another Championship with Mercedes – whilst making clear that he wants to win in the correct way. After a difficult and controversial eighteen months, Wolff explains the principles he most values in F1.
The 51-year-old is tasked with returning Mercedes to race victories after another disappointing season. The W14 lacks the performance to fight for wins, with Mike Elliot’s technical team reaching a dead end when pursuing the ‘zeropod’ concept.
As a result, the Brackley-based team has spent most of 2023 playing catch-up. In the meantime, Red Bull continues to break record after record with Max Verstappen.
Wolff’s statements in recent weeks suggest there are still leftover feelings – and understandably so – from the 2021 campaign.
In any case, the Austrian makes clear that reaching F1 glory with “integrity” is more important than a title or Championship:
“You need to live by the standards every day, whether you win or whether you lose,” he told PlanetF1.
“And we’ve had challenging moments. I think a reason why we won was no blame culture.
“I would give up a championship before I break the rules in an intentional way. Because reputation and integrity are everything today.
“I don’t want to be judged by a championship or two.
“I want the team to be judged after 20 years for whether we’ve done more things right or wrong, [for] loyalty. We’ve not lost many people.”
The Mercedes team principal has also dismissed suggestions of changing the rules to prevent Red Bull’s dominance from continuing.
Wolff consistently refers to Formula 1 as a “meritocracy,” making clear that Christian Horner’s team has earned their advantage through competence.
Mercedes must prove over winter they can understand these regulations and use their wind tunnel time to challenge Red Bull.
Huge changes to the pecking order (i.e. McLaren post-Austria) have taken place during the season, so there is no excuse for James Allison’s technical team to fall short over winter.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
