Prestige or Performance? Toto Wolff Picks Neither While Answering the Big Question Haunting Mercedes’ P2 Finish

Despite Red Bull securing the constructors’ championship with little competition, the final race of the 2023 season still had an exciting storyline, with Mercedes and Ferrari fighting for the 2nd place in the constructor’s championship. Having secured P2 after a challenging race, Toto Wolff recently sat down to discuss the implications of the win in an interview on the official YouTube channel of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

Finishing P2 in the constructors’ championship would lead to a team gaining pride in their finishing position, while a P3 finish would mean a performance boost, given the 7% extra time in the wind tunnel. As such, it was a question of pride or performance for the Austrian, but he chose neither.

 

Realizing the outcome of the race would not be one-dimensional, Wolff laid more emphasis on the financial aspect of the finishing position. He explained how it was most important for him to keep his employees happy, and a bonus cheque would help him achieve the same.

“It is a financial component for all our staff in terms of bonus. I need to look after everyone, together with my senior management, and therefore, it is a very important component.”

Meanwhile, a P2 finish was much more important for Charles Leclerc, who did everything in his power to ensure Ferrari would finish above Mercedes in the final standings. The Monegasque driver even sacrificed his race position to Sergio Perez to affect the championship standings, but it went in vain as a 5-second penalty on the Mexican driver meant Mercedes would seal P2 in the championship by a mere three points.

Toto Wolff- The Leader of the Mercedes Family

With Wolff being the Team Principal and part owner of the Mercedes team, the onus was always on him to do what was best for the team, both financially and mentally. However, in a season full of highs and lows, even he needed a morale boost now and then. Given the same, Wolff spoke about how the team has become an organization where everyone works together and lends support to one another in every way they can.

Mercedes has become famous for housing a family-like atmosphere, where people support each other and collaborate over the smallest of things instead of one department blaming the other for the shortcomings in performances. Wolff believes housing a superstar team is much more important than associating with an accomplished individual. “You don’t wanna have a team of superstars. You want to have a superstar team.” For Wolff, it means building a strong team and inculcating a supportive and empowering atmosphere, leading to the overall success of the entire organization.