“Do I want to stay in Formula 1?”– Toto Wolff talks about his ‘inner conflict’ aftermath of dominant 2020 season and how he convinced himself to continue even after winning for seven years

Tanish Chachra | 27/01/2022
"Do I want to stay in Formula 1?"– Toto Wolff talks about his 'inner conflict' aftermath of dominant 2020 season and how he convinced himself to continue even after winning for seven years

Toto Wolff is probably going down as the most dominant Team Principal in the history of F1 with eight straight constructors’ titles in his name.

Mercedes in the turbo-hybrid era has been absolutely dominant. Under team principal Toto Wolff’s charge, the Brackley based team has won eight constructors title in a row.

In 2020, Mercedes were immensely dominant, and it led to Wolff having an internal conflict. After ruling the sport for so long, he had the thought of leaving the team having nothing else to win.

These thoughts even led to Wolff almost leaving the sport with his contract coming to an end in a few months after the completion of the 2020 season. But the Austrian stayed, and he reveals what made him to hold his thought of leaving.

“It was ten months that were very difficult for me – also mentally,” said Wolff. “I gave everything for almost eight years and felt burnt out to a certain extent.”

“In addition, my contract was due to expire and I could have sold my shares. All this led to an inner conflict: do I want to stay in Formula 1? Can I still make my contribution? Or can someone else do the job better?”

Also read: Former Red Bull driver claims Lewis Hamilton would have moved on from title loss by now unlike Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff finds himself in F1

After the end of the 2020 season, Wolff signed a contract extension with Mercedes. Now, he after winning another title in 2021, he is setting his eyes for 2022.

“I spent almost a year thinking about that, although ‘thinking about it’ is still a rather positive expression. It was a great deal of self-reflection, also because of the pressure I felt. In the end I chose Mercedes and Formula 1, I have found my place here.”

Also read: Valtteri Bottas reveals how discussions with Toto Wolff determined his split with Mercedes after 2021 season

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Toto Wolff

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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