-
Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor
Mercedes F1 co-owner Toto Wolff will stay in his position as staff principal for not less than three extra years.
Wolff is one in every of three equal shareholders within the F1 staff, holding a 3rd of the corporate alongside the Mercedes automobile firm and chemical firm INEOS.
– Unlapped: The best way to hear or watch ESPN’s new F1 present, episode archive, and extra
After two tough seasons, wherein the staff scored only one victory and noticed Pink Bull exchange it because the dominant power inside the sport, there was hypothesis over whether or not Wolff would stay in his day-to-day position as staff principal or take a step again.
However after holding conversations with INEOS proprietor Jim Ratcliffe and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, Wolff mentioned the three agreed that he stay in cost.
“I believe an important factor between the three of us is that we belief one another,” Wolff instructed the Every day Telegraph on Monday. “On the finish of the day, as a shareholder myself, I need the perfect return on funding. And the perfect return on funding is successful.
“I am not going to attempt to grasp on to a place that I believe someone goes to do higher than me. I ensure that I’ve folks round who can inform me in any other case. Ultimately the three of us determined: ‘Let’s do it once more’.”
Wolff has been a Mercedes shareholder and staff boss since he joined from Williams in 2013. Throughout that interval, Mercedes has gained seven drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ titles within the longest interval of single-team dominance in F1’s historical past.
He mentioned he’s nonetheless motivated to stay in his position and confirmed his shareholding within the staff had not been in query.
“I am a part of this staff in varied features,” the 52-year-old added.
“I am a co-shareholder. I am on the board. These are issues which is not going to change no matter govt, or non-executive, position I’ve. However I really feel good.
“The danger for me is all the time extra bore-out than burnout. And that is why I embrace the challenges we’ve got immediately, regardless that they generally really feel very, very tough to handle.”
The brand new deal can even see him keep as staff principal into the primary yr of F1’s subsequent regulation change in 2026.
Wolff confirmed {that a} continuation of Mercedes’ disappointing type of the final two years wouldn’t influence on his place earlier than the tip of his new deal.
“I’ve by no means had a efficiency clause,” he mentioned. “You both belief one another or you do not. And we’re aligned as shareholders.”
Mercedes will launch its 2024 automobile, the W15, through a web-based occasion on Feb. 14. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will proceed because the staff’s drivers this yr after signing new two-year contracts.