Mercedes haven’t been at their best ever since the new regulations were adopted at the start of the 2022 season. As per a report by GP Blog, Toto Wolff saw a whopping $3,800,000 drop in his salary in 2022 despite Mercedes surprisingly managing to amp up their revenue.
As per the report, Mercedes managed to rake in a net revenue of $570,000,000 in 2022, which is 25% more than what they did in 2021. This made them the most financially successful team on the grid, even above the likes of Red Bull, who have dominated the last two campaigns.
Where did it all go so wrong 😔 pic.twitter.com/7BSom5d3jL
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) November 7, 2023
Over $291,000,000 of the Silver Arrows’ revenue, making up 51% of their total, came from sponsorship and licensing rights. $171,000,000, making up 30% of the total, came from prize money and the rest of $108,000,000 came from activities outside of Formula 1.
Despite this rise in revenue, Toto Wolff saw his salary go down from $8,200,000 to $4,400,000. The report does not, however, state the reason behind this decline in salary.
Mercedes suffer yet another disappointing season in 2023
While business boomed for Mercedes, their performance in F1 has consistently declined over the past few seasons. While 2022 saw a fall from grace with the team managing only one win throughout the whole season, 2023 has been even worse for the Silver Arrows so far with no wins.
The Brackley outfit started off the season with quite a bit of optimism after switching to their innovative zero-side pod design. However, after a series of poor results, it soon became clear that it wasn’t the right way forward for the team.
The team then managed to come up with some good upgrades and Lewis Hamilton made the most of the situation, racking in as many points as he could, getting close to P2 in the standings. However, everything fell apart once again in Brazil as Mercedes had a horror show at the Interlagos circuit, with Hamilton only finishing P8.
However, despite Mercedes’ subpar season, they are yet currently P2 in the Constructors’ Championship with a 20-point lead to Ferrari in P3. With two races left in the 2023 season, the Silver Arrows might just end up losing the second spot if the W14 continues to fail to perform at Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
