The Wolff is at the door…

Speculation around the Mercedes F1 team and its chief Toto Wolff have been the centre of attention. Add to this the significant investments into Aston Martin led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll and his F1 objective for the British sports car manufacturer and you have a perfect recipe to feed the rumour market.

Initially reports emanating from the German media suggested that Wolff would no longer be boss of the Mercedes team. Exactly where this idea came from is anyone’s guess, but it was intimations from several sources that 2021 could be the last season for the equipe. Further fuelling the fire was the appointment of Ola Kallenius, new chair of the board of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.

It was suggested this could result in a different attitude to F1 by the board and the shareholders. After all, with the reduced global car market due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many suggested it would be difficult to convince both board and shareholders that sinking many millions into F1 would be a sound investment.

The company responded by saying: “Speculation regarding a potential withdrawal from Formula 1 continues to be unfounded and irresponsible. The sport has taken the right measures to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and its future financial sustainability,and we welcome these steps. It is our clear intention Formula 1 as a Mercedes-Benz works team in the years to come, and to do so with our managing partner Toto Wolff.”

Wolff is not just the team principal but also holds a 30% share of the team. The Austrian responded during a Sky Sports F1 Vodcast: “I think it’s all nonsense but I understand in a time when there is no racing, headlines have to
be made. I’m happy where I am. Mercedes is my family and I really enjoy the relationship I have within the racing group but also within the Daimler fold,” Wolff said.

“I am very close to Kallenius – we speak almost every week and are very much aligned. I am not planning to go anywhere else.” Wolff has made no secret of the fact he is discussing his future with Kallenius. “I feel I can still contribute a lot, but of course I think about my future and also discuss with Ola how this could work.

“We are in the middle of carving our future together, so I don’t want to be tied to a specific title, whether that is team boss or managing director.” He added: “In these times of the Coronavirus, where the industry is changing, every commitment has to be discussed.” So it is possible we will see a change in his position and responsibilities within the Mercedes group.

Whatever happens, he would certainly be a hard act to follow when it comes to replacing him as Mercedes team principal. Of course we must not forget the intriguing saga of Aston Martin and Wolff’s £37-million (R790 million) investment in the British company, which has resulted in some very interesting speculation.

Despite the announcement from Wolff that it was nothing more than a personal investment, the rumour mill began to grind. Could the Austrian be contemplating a move to the new Aston Martin F1 team? Or perhaps he would join Lawrence Stroll in a buy-out of Mercedes F1 and use the currently dominant team as a basis for the Aston Martin F1 revival.

Perhaps Stroll could then sell Racing Point as a going concern to one of these aspirant newcomers to the sport that we keep hearing about but never seem to surface. A fascinating list of several possibilities, but in my humble opinion they are unlikely to become probabilities, within the foreseeable future, if ever.

Having issued an initial eight-race calendar for the F1 season, the powers that be have run into a few more difficulties with the plans to move to the east, with three more circuits having officially cancelled. The three are Singapore, Azerbaijan and Japan – all falling victim to the impact of the Coronavirus. Street races such as Singapore and Baku present huge problems as the circuit and its required infrastructure literally has to be built from scratch and this involves a considerable workforce, creating inherent difficulties of social distancing.

The Japanese round at the Suzuka circuit was cancelled primarily due to travel restrictions for both teams and spectators alike. This could lead to more back to back races at any of the circuits confirmed, such as Sochi and Bahrain, or perhaps a move to tracks in Germany, Portugal and Italy that are already approved for F1 events, but are currently not on the calendar. We continue to monitor the ever- evolving schedule for 2020.