“It didn’t look like a Formula 1 team at all”– Toto Wolff on his first-hand experience with Mercedes when he came to join them.
Toto Wolff has revolutionized Mercedes‘ Formula 1 team, making them among the most celebrated team of all time by winning everything in the last seven years.
However, things were never per his profound views about the Mercedes team, and he was rather disappointed when he first entered the headquarters of the team.
“When I walked in for the first time, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to be. I came in, sat down at the reception and noticed that it didn’t look like a Formula 1 team at all,” Wolff stated.
“There was a week-old Daily Mail on the table with cups of dried coffee by it. I couldn’t believe this was the Mercedes Formula 1 Team.”
Revamp was on
Wolff had all the signals that the team needed a massive overhaul to be a team that aspires to be among the greatest, and the Austrian took charge of it.
“It shows a certain attitude, an eye for (or a lack of it) for details,” Wolff explains. “And details are important in a high-tech world. Many might ignore those little things because they are not about data or aerodynamics, let alone making a car faster.
“But it does show the values of a team. If we appreciate the eye for details, then we as a team automatically capture the momentum. And that was my first experience with Mercedes.”
Over the years, some exceptional engineers and workers joined Mercedes and made it into an exceptional outfit. Meanwhile, the appointment of Lewis Hamilton also changed the fortune of the team.
At this time, Niki Lauda also joined Mercedes as a consultant and was vital in choosing hamilton as Michael Schumacher’s successor.
