Wolff openly apologises: 'Biggest mistakes of my career'

Toto Wolff, Mercedes' team boss, has admitted to making crucial mistakes in recent seasons. Wolff, born in Austria, declared that his choices in 2022 were the worst of his career and openly apologised for his harsh statements about his team.

For Mercedes, the last two seasons have been particularly challenging. After winning their eighth consecutive constructors' title in 2021, the team had to watch Red Bull Racing take the prizes in 2022 and 2023. Although Mercedes scored a victory in Brazil in 2022, the team did not cross the finish line first once in 2023.

"It was my biggest mistake in recent years," Wolff said according to Bild when looking back at the decision to stick with the 2022 zeropod design in 2023. "We took the wrong decision for the design of the 2022 car. That we went ahead with that anyway in 2023 was the second big mistake. I do stand by those mistakes because we had won in Brazil. Everyone would stick to the concept after a weekend like that," said the Mercedes team boss.

Wolff apologises to Mercedes staff

More than half the team were convinced that this was the best approach to achieve success, according to Wolff. However, this proved untrue. In 2023, the team performed below expectations, and this led to fierce criticism from Wolff. Eddie Jordan noted this and indicated that Wolff was too critical; Wolff agreed.

"Criticising the team in the media is a delicate balance that I have not always been able to keep perfect. I believe many team members stay motivated by their leader's ambition, but sometimes I have gone too far. Then I have to drink chamomile tea first to relax before an interview. I have sometimes been too harsh, for that I will apologise to the factory. That is also part of leadership, but should not be done too often."

Mercedes hopes to move forward again in 2024, and they will do so with a "new" technical director. Indeed, 2023 saw the reinstatement of James Allison as technical director. Allison was previously the CTO of Mercedes and was busy with other matters, but is now back in charge of day-to-day operations. Mike Elliott, who was responsible for the W13 and W14 as technical director, left Mercedes after his 'demotion'.