Amid the Horrific Mercedes Downfall, Toto Wolff Misses Game-Changing F1 Legend: “If He Were Here…”

“

I’d like to dedicate this award to the losers because I tell you from my own experience winning is one thing, but out of losing I always learned more for the future, so I got stronger in losing“, said Niki Lauda accepting Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. And while losing seemed like an act Mercedes could never pull off, it became a reality in 2022 and continues to be one in 2023 as well. Perhaps this is the reason why Lauda’s close aide and friend Toto Wolff miss him now more than ever.

Three-time world champion joined the Brackley outfit in 2012. The team saw the best of times in his presence, including record-breaking dominance of the hybrid era. The man just knew the right move. However, the icon passed on in 2019, leaving behind a void that stays unfilled to date. And the downward spiral that the team stands face to face with often makes the onlooker wonder if things would be any different if Lauda were around. And team’s CEO and TP echo the emotion.

As quoted by Motorsports Turkey, Wolff told the website Stats Perform, “After all these years, we still miss Niki a lot. He always manages to come up with simple solutions to complex problems and keep them simple. If he were here, I have to figure out what to say and how to act. We’ve both been very effective when we deliberately simplified a situation as much as possible and sometimes it pays off right away. But there are so many different details.”

Adding that there is more than what meets the eye, he stated, “Formula 1 is a technical sport and my role was to translate our ideas into the design of the car. The rest is easy: the stopwatch never lies. Telemetry tells us right away what we missed and what we need to fix.”

Read More: “His Ego Is Out of This World”: Lewis Hamilton’s Attempt to Fix Ongoing Drama Backfires as Fans React to Struggling Mercedes

And while Niki cannot be around to resolve it for the Silver Arrows, Wolff has now become open to even aping the rivals if that makes a difference.

Toto Wolff has “no shame” in getting inspired by Red Bull to build a fast car

Zero sides pods for zero wins is what it has come down to at Mercedes. The team has not learned from its mistakes and rallied the flop design from last year. And to nobody’s surprise, the performance has been sublime. In the latest revelation, Toto Wolff calling for radical changes said they are open to adopting the Red Bull concept.

As quoted by Insidesport, Wolff said, “I think at this stage, we have no dogmatism of how the car should look like,” explained Wolff. “It just needs to be the quickest possible race car. And if that car looks like a Red Bull, or like SpaceX, I don’t care, it just needs to be quick. And if it’s a Red Bull, we will put a little bull somewhere with a sticker, and I will have no shame if it’s quick.”

Watch This Story: Lewis Hamilton on various talk shows

What are your thoughts on the slump that Mercedes is facing? Do you think they can ever claim the said glory again?