Former racing driver and now the team boss of the Formula E team Venturi Susie Wolff explains how Toto inspires her.
Susie Wolff reveals how her husband who is also Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff has inspired her. She praised Toto’s management style and said that she learned some lessons from him which she applies to her own role as the team boss of the Venturi.
Wolff said that she is a different character from Toto and her management style is different. “I don’t try to copy what he does. But I am definitely inspired by how he runs the organisation.”
“He’s very authentic. He’s very, very good at his communication. He’s got a lot of empathy for the people he works with,” she said.
Wolff was a racer and Williams F1 development driver before she retired in 2015. Since 2018 she has been the team boss of the Formula E Venturi team and has observed her husband win so many championships and draws strengths from it.
She further said, “He surrounds himself with very talented people. He’s not scared to be challenged, and he wants bright people around that do challenge him.
“I think that’s something which I definitely [have] learned from having watched him over so many years. I’m just inspired watching what he does. I learn something every day and I never stopped learning, and I hope I never stop learning.”
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Susie Wolff does not want to return to Formula 1
As she became a successful team boss in Formula E many questioned if she would join Formula 1. Wolff has ruled out any possibility of working in any Formula 1 team. She added that a move to another F1 squad is also not particularly likely given her allegiances.
“I think being Toto’s wife obviously means that I’m very aligned to the Mercedes team,” she explained.
“I wouldn’t work for Toto, but I also wouldn’t want to work for a competitor.”
“My heart is with the Mercedes Formula 1 team, and I think there’d obviously be reservations within individuals in the paddock if I rocked up in some kind of other function, so I don’t see my future being in F1.”
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Toto has an incredible quality to soak up pressure
Furthermore, she explained how she offers insight to Toto in situations that involves the drivers. She admitted that it sometimes leads to heated discussions.
“Absolutely. I know when to pick my battles!” she laughed when asked about when things might not have gone well for Mercedes on track.
“I’ve been in the sport so long, I know the challenges he’s facing. I can be very understanding if he’s got to stay at the office late or head off to a meeting and we don’t see each other for a long time.
“I know what it feels like when you’re under that amount of pressure. Toto sometimes has an incredible ability to just soak up pressure.
“I get nervous listening sometimes, but he just keeps soaking up the pressure, keeps soaking up the pressure and shields the team sometimes from the amount of pressure that’s coming in their direction.
“But I think we make a good team, for sure we make a good team. He is hugely supportive of me and what my ambitions are.”
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