Despite Toto Wolff’s Unquestionable Management Prowess, Lewis Hamilton Once Questioned His Mercedes Boss’ Ability to Get the Job Done

As former CEO of Formula 1, Chase Carey, was about to step down from his post in 2019, speculations were being made for his replacement. One of the front-runners for the F1 top job was Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. Lewis Hamilton supported the Austrian’s claim but had some reservations that he did not shy away from expressing.

Chase Carey took over the F1 CEO job at the beginning of 2017 and remained at the helm until January 2021. Carey is currently F1’s non-executive chairman, with one of his achievements being the introduction of the cost cap. Before Stefano Domenicali replaced him as the CEO, F1 management had quite a list of suitors for the job.

Lewis Hamilton doubted Toto Wolff would have stayed objective as F1 CEO

Among the list was the name of Mercedes’ super successful boss, Toto Wolff. While losing Toto would have been a loss for the Silver Arrows, Lewis Hamilton supported his claim, nonetheless. However, Hamilton thought it would be difficult for Toto to remain neutral, as he had always been associated with Mercedes.

As per Autosport, in 2019, Hamilton said, “I don’t believe there’s a better manager than Toto within the whole of F1.”

“However, sitting back as a fan, when you sit in the room with people who ultimately have to make decisions, we as humans – I think, this is just my opinion – can be biased.”

“Toto has been Mercedes through and through for such a long period of time. I don’t know if there’s anything in that.”

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Hamilton believed the best person for the job would be someone neutral. Even then, he thought, some biases would kick in, and that he believed was a basic human instinct. In the end, as we know now, former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali was chosen by the management.

Ferrari used a special right to block Toto Wolff from becoming F1 CEO

Speaking during the 2020 Russian GP weekend, Toto Wolff revealed he had “preliminary discussions” with Liberty Media CEO, Greg Maffei. He told the meeting was not a fruitful one, as Ferrari did not want him to take the top job.

Speaking with Sky Italia, Ferrari’s then-team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed Toto’s claims. He said, “It is one of Ferrari’s rights to veto the succession to the role of CEO of F1.”

“Our choice regarding Toto was not personal, as I believe that like Stefano he could have been a good person for the role. But we did not find it correct that a personality directly involved in Formula 1 today was nominated. Stefano represents a much more neutral person who has been outside of this environment for many years now.”

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The process of choosing the F1 CEO revealed the politics that goes on behind the scenes. These are things that we, as fans, often miss out on.