Drive to Survive Impact on F1 Hailed After Toto Wolff’s Entry Into the Billion Dollar Club Raised Unnecessary Question

Questions are always raised when someone succeeds or achieves something. Toto Wolff’s recent achievement of becoming a billionaire also raised questions. The Drive to Survive superstar’s success led to many raising eyebrows regarding the impacts the Netflix docuseries had on F1 and its team. However, the questions have been answered and are backed by facts.

Toto Wolff recently joined the Billionaire Club after Forbes released the list of Sports Billionaires in 2023. The Austrian started his venture capital firm named Marchfifteen in 1998 and Marchsixteen in 2004. Wolff then joined the Mercedes F1 team in 2013, becoming a partial owner and owning 30% of shares back then. Later, the share percentage increased to 33%.

Mercedes’ recent success and 8 consecutive world titles skyrocketed the earnings of the team. However, a debate has been going on around the fact of whether Drive to Survive helped Wolff’s earnings in any way.

After the Liberty media takeover, the focus was shifted to the USA market and steps were taken to increase the viewership. Netflix’s docuseries were one of the ideas and it skyrocketed F1’s fanbase. This meant Toto Wolff became a celebrity overnight. The Liberty Media division of F1’s stock price has increased by 138% over the last 5 years. Drive to Survive has increased the F1 team’s revenue by multi-folds and sponsorships are flying in at speeds faster than F1 cars themselves.

There is no doubt whatsoever that DTS helped teams flourish in a difficult time. Toto Wolff indeed benefitted as he owned 33% of the shares, meaning he increased by a third of whatever the Mercedes AMG F1 team increased by. Mercedes and Ferrari are also the teams that receive the highest compensation from Netflix. However, we cannot neglect Wolff’s investment decision because that is what landed him in this situation.

Read More: Toto Wolff Recalls Fresher Day at Mercedes With Contrasting Differences of the F1 Big Boys’ Club: “Compared to Williams”

Toto Wolff does not plan on retiring anytime soon and enjoys his entrepreneurial duties. Let’s see what the Austrian thinks of his future and his retirement plans.

What are Toto Wolff’s thoughts on his retirement?

Toto Wolff plans on working for at least another 30 to 40 years. He doesn’t want to call it quits at this moment and summarize his career as something successful. The Austrian is hungry and wants more success. The Mercedes boss has not achieved his targets yet and wants to keep going. Toto Wolff suggested during an interview that he will have this conversation at a later stage of his life, at least 30 years down the line.

According to Mirror.co.uk, Toto Wolff said “I don’t see myself at that stage of my life as somebody that has been successful and that has achieved his targets, and that it’s kind of half time in an entrepreneurial life.”

“I’m not a sportsman where your first career ends at 35. I’m just right there, and hopefully if I’m healthy, I can go another 30 years or 40 years. I wouldn’t like to summarize now and say what made you successful. Well, let’s have the conversation in 30 years.”

Watch this story: How a Kitchen Rendezvous Prevented Lewis Hamilton-Toto Wolff’s “Divorce”

How much do you think DTS helped F1 and Wolff reach where they are now?