Wolff on Mercedes culture: 'We are an organisation that empowers'

After years of dominance, the Mercedes team is now faring a lot less well. On-track performance has been lacking for about two years. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has given an insight into the mindset the team is trying to maintain to get back to the top.

In a Q&A session on Mercedes' YouTube channel, a fan says that despite the difficult times, the team still exudes a family feeling in his eyes. Wolff responds that this is because they have a culture in the team where they do not blame each other for mistakes that are made. “You don’t want to have a team of superstars, you want to have a superstar team”, the team boss explained.

It's about creating a safe place

“That means working together is much more than just being colleagues and being on a professional journey. There’s so much more to it and if we know that we are an organisation that empowers, that is a safe place, you can achieve so much more. Maybe not every single season, but overall over the long term, you’re going to be in a much better place.''

According to Wolff, there is not one element that is most important concerning a team's performance. “If you look at F1, you may believe that there is a silver bullet, something that unlocks all the performance in the car, but there isn’t. It is all the work on the small items done properly. If you can put all of this together, then you have a winning package.”

'Sometimes I needed support'

Wolff points out that it's really not always him trying to motivate the team during these difficult times. In fact, the team does this together. “It wasn’t always me that needed to boost the morale. Sometimes I needed the support and all of us together were trying to pass the baton to each other to perform best at any given moment.''