Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff owns a third of the team shares but losing the drivers’ title have led people to question his position.
Toto Wolff has been with Mercedes since 2013 and has never lost a drivers’ title until now. The team retained the constructors’ title but a defeat in the higher-profile table has led to several speculations.
Former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone is not sure if Toto Wolff would still be in charge after the team’s failure to win the drivers’ title.
Bernie Ecclestone told RTL television. “If [Toto] Wolff did not win the Drivers’ Championship, they should give him an Oscar for his performance, because he has done a great job.”
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He said, “I don’t know whether Toto Wolff, with a third of the team shares, is still in the same strong position as before. But we will find out at some point.”
Towards the end of the race when the race director Michael Masi’s decision changed the course of the race, Wolff was heard fuming over the radio. He was in complete disagreement with how the race had unfolded and filed two complaints with the FIA which got rejected by the stewards.
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Toto Wolff has an enormous amount of power
The Austrian had his own motorsport career which involved endurance racing, rallying and GT competitions before he shifted to the management side of the sport.
In 2009, he bought shares in Williams and became the executive director of the team three years later. In 2013 he left Williams to join Mercedes where he was initially an executive director but later on bought a 30% stake in the team with a further 10% held by Niki Lauda.
Wolff has since become the team principal and chief executive of the Brackley based team. He has an enormous amount of power when it comes to Mercedes’ entire racing operation.
Furthermore, Ecclestone was questioned whether Lewis Hamilton would be back for the 2022 season. Ecclestone said that he had spoken to the Briton’s father in recent days, but stayed away from the topic of his career.
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