Toto Wolff revealed he seriously considered leaving Formula 1 in 2020
The Mercedes Team Principal recently took part in an interview, in which he admitted that in the past he had seriously thought about stepping away from the sport.
Toto Wolff’s original plan
“At the moment I am happy. I want to continue. At least until the team starts winning again, I still see myself as the executive Team Principal. Above all because I am in the privileged position of being able to fire myself. When I am no longer Team Principal, I could become CEO or chairman of the board, or I could join the supervisory board, in agreement with the other shareholders,” he explained.
“In 2020 I really wanted to leave,” he then admitted.
The year 2020 was the last championship-winning season for Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes, when he secured his seventh world title and also delivered another constructors’ championship. At that time, Mercedes was at the absolute peak of its success.
“My original plan was that I did not want to ‘play’ with racing cars anymore once I turned 50, because by that point you are an adult. But in the end I came to the conclusion that this is my field: racing and its financial side,” he concluded.
Currently, the Team Principal is 53 years old and has not hinted at an imminent retirement. However, he did speak to the media about the passion of his youngest son, Jack Wolff: karting.
“When a child drives a kart or races a car it is dangerous. Maybe in a couple of years I will want to be there [with him],” he declared. But in this case it would only be in a few years’ time, and it is not certain that he would completely leave the team.
Toto Wolff also joked several times that if he were to step down as Team Principal, he would not abandon the team altogether, but would take on another role within Mercedes.
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