“My father was very ill for 10 years with a brain tumour”– Toto Wolff talks about his ordeal with abject poverty during childhood

Toto Wolff, among the most successful team principals in the history of F1, talks about his rocky days and how defeat in F1 is nowhere it.

Toto Wolff is among the most successful people in F1, both commercially and competitively. He is a brand himself and currently owns one-third of the Mercedes racing team.

However, the journey here was never easy for him. In the latest interview with Daily Mail, he talks about how difficult it was to survive when his father was severely ill.

After that, he decided never to rely on anybody. These words spilt after Christian Horner said Wolff is feeling the pressure after losing to Red Bull. But the Austrian claims losing in F1 is nothing in front of hardships in life.

“Look, I’ve had so many hard years in my life that this — fighting for a Formula 1 championship — is not on the scale. The mental stress of this doesn’t even move the needle for me.”

“Compared to my childhood, my adolescence, the struggles I had to go through, this is just good fun, because what happened in my early life has left permanent scars.”

“It wasn’t just losing my father. My father was very ill for 10 years with a brain tumour. From the first moment, I can remember he was ill until he passed away in my teenage years and we had, literally, no money. He couldn’t work. It changed his personality.”

“I can remember at 14 thinking I wanted to be responsible for myself, I didn’t want to be dependent on anybody, I knew I couldn’t rely on anybody.”

Also read: “He is a financial guy and I grew up in the industry” – Red Bull boss Christian Horner on his intense ongoing rivalry with Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff still haunted by that phase

Wolff further claims that his childhood experiences still haunt him, and at times he still feels alone. However, he wishes for no sympathy and concedes everyone has their story.

“Everyone has his or her story. I’m not asking for sympathy. Everyone has struggles. But compared to my job as team principal — I’m still haunted by this.”

“I still wake up having dreamt I am alone. It’s a dream I have had since I was a child. It can happen any time. It is not about pressure, not about the job.”

“We discuss mental health these days and people see you are successful and think it must all be fine, but you want to say to them — me, too. You’re not alone with that. The scar never goes.”

Also read: Mercedes boss wants Lewis Hamilton to lose championship fight against Red Bull ace

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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