Toto Wolff is not considering his position as Mercedes team principal but admits it is “fair” to question his performance amid the team’s continued struggles.
Mercedes have only won one race since the end of the 2021 Formula One season, with George Russell triumphing at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton finished second.
The team’s 2024 car, the W15, has proven little better than its predecessors with Mercedes still awaiting their first podium finish of the campaign, and Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix was their worst outing of the season to date.
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Both Russell and Hamilton retired in Melbourne to leave Mercedes 71 points back from leaders Red Bull in the team standings, an incredible downturn after they won eight straight constructors’ championships between 2014 and 2021.
Mercedes’ failure to adapt to regulation changes introduced in 2022 has seen Wolff attract intense scrutiny, and he accepts his performance should come under the microscope.
“As a corner of this business, I need to be sure that my contribution is positive and creative,” Wolff told reporters.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 25, 2024
“I would be the first one to say, if someone has a better idea, tell me, because I’m interested to turn this team around as quickly as possible. I’ll happily give my input and see what that would be or who that could be.
“We have a physics problem, not a philosophical or organisational problem. We haven’t swallowed a dumb pill since 2021.
“It’s just we don’t understand some of the behaviours of the car, that in the past we would have always understood.
“I look myself in the mirror every single day about everything I do, and if I believe that I should ask the manager question or the trainer question, I think it’s a fair question, but it’s not what I feel at the moment that I should do.”
A difficult day.
We’re already looking into what caused the PU failure and together we’ll come back stronger 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pmpMi0qcF1
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 24, 2024
As well as serving as team principal, Wolff also owns a 33 per cent ownership stake in the team, which he says puts a different perspective on discussions over his future.
“The big difference is it’s not like the manager question in terms of, this is my job, I’ll stop the job and then somebody else is doing the job and I’ll go to Chelsea or to Liverpool, or over to Ferrari,” he said.
“I haven’t got that choice, which is also unfortunate. I’m not a contractor or employee that says, ‘I’ve had enough of this’. My hamster wheel keeps spinning and I can’t jump out.”
