Toto Wolff Admits He Was Close to Leaving Mercedes F1 in 2020

Like everyone else, Coronavirus has affected Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff. Furthermore, the Austrian admitted he lived a stage of personal crisis when COVID-19 arrived and not ensure to continue his profession in Formula 1.

Toto Wolff joined Mercedes in 2013. Since the Austrian arrival, the Silver Arrows have achieved a winning percentage of 66%. In 2020, Mercedes secured their seventh Constructors’ Championship title, which surpassed that of Ferrari’s six consecutive Constructors’ Championships set between 1999-2004.

Although Mercedes had an arduous time on their last two race weekends, as they consecutively failed to deliver a significant result on street circuits.

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What did Toto Wolff say?

“Like many other people, I suffer from mental problems and I have a great team. It is not that I am pathologically ill,” said Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff.

“Covid-19 arrived, and I didn’t really know if I wanted to continue in sport, if it had been a one-off success or if I wanted to go back to Economics.

“For months I couldn’t find an answer to my question and that makes you not be your best self. To protect the organization, you need to take care of yourself.” (Quotes translated from Spanish via Google Translate)

Mercedes will look for a comeback in France

Mercedes had a catastrophic couple of race weekends. First in Monaco, where the Silver Arrows could secure only 7 points as Lewis Hamilton finished at P7. Whereas Bottas looks strong at P2 but had to retire because of a botched pit-stop.

Second at Azerbaijan GP, when the 7-time world champion had the golden opportunity to revive his lead in the world championship.

Unfortunately, an unexpected brake balance setting change caused him to lock brakes on Turn 1, causing him to slide off the track. While the Finn struggled for pace all weekend and finished at P12.

For the first time after the German Grand Prix in 2018, Silver Arrows lost their lead in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings.

Now that all the attention turns to French Grand Prix, which is not a street circuit, Mercedes will look for a strong comeback.

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