Ferrari Intervened in My Dream of Becoming F1 CEO: Toto Wolff

In 2014, the Mercedes AMG F1 team appointed Toto Wolff as the team principal, taking over from Ross Brawn, who fulfilled the role from 2010 to 2013. His appointment as the Mercedes team boss coincided with a major regulation change in F1; The sport was shifting from V8 engines to Turbo-hybrid V6 engines.

The combination of Wolff’s arrival and that of these regulation changes ushered a new era in F1 as Mercedes emerged as the dominant team. Since 2014, Wolff has guided the German team to 7 successive constructor championships, also becoming part-owner of the team along the way.

While the Austrian’s relationship with the Silver Arrows looks set to continue for the foreseeable future, Wolff revealed that he considered leaving Mercedes to become the CEO of F1.

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I think Stefano is the better CEO for such a company: Toto Wolff

In a recent interview with ESPN, Wolff talked about his journey as an investor to becoming co-owner of the Mercedes F1 team. But in an interesting revelation, he mentioned he was ready to step back as the team boss of Mercedes and become the CEO, (the sport boss, if you will) of F1.

Wolff also had talks with Liberty Media regarding the position but was forced to opt-out of it as “it wouldn’t have gone anywhere anyway because [Mercedes’ rivals] Ferrari wouldn’t have accepted that.”

But he lost out the position to Stefano Domenicali. However, he has no hard feelings in that regard.

“The job appeals to everybody, but first of all, I think Stefano is the better CEO for such a company. He has been the CEO of Lamborghini, has run Scuderia Ferrari and obviously his role at Audi, and he is fantastic for that role.”

He added, “I enjoy being a co-shareholder and co-owner of the team that is a franchise and diversifying in many other interesting areas. So I have no regrets at all. I think Greg Maffei absolutely took the right decision to go for Stefano and he is better for that job than me.”

Read More: Why Do Mercedes Dominate F1?

Can Mercedes bounce back and get on top again?

Mercedes have now lost four consecutive races – a first in the turbo-hybrid era. They are clearly lagging behind their rivals Red Bull in many areas, and the latter have managed to comfortably beat them in qualifying and the race at the Styrian Grand Prix.

The German team to catch up quickly as they are trailing the Austrian team in both championships. If the trend continues, it will become hard for Mercedes to challenge the Austrian team.

Do you think Mercedes will be able to beat Red Bull this season? Comment below to let us know.