Does Mercedes perform less due to possible Wolff departure?
F1 News
- GPblog.com
For the second weekend in a row there appear to be cracks in the oiled machine called Mercedes. The time penalties that Hamilton was given for the test start in the wrong place cost him his race. Is this because of the uncertainty surrounding Toto Wolff's future with the team?
After it became known that Stefano Domenicali will be the new Formula 1 President, Wolff also reported that he was interested in that place. He had even been in talks with Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media. When this news reached Maranello, Ferrari used his right of veto to vote against. Wolff is said to have too many tyres in Formula 1: he owns 30% of the shares of his own team, he is a shareholder in Williams and also in Aston Martin, which will replace Racing Point next year.
Uncertainty about the future
"I think everyone knows that there were some initial discussions with Greg", says the Austrian to Motorsport.com. "But with my position in Formula 1, nothing would have happened, because Ferrari would not accept that." But what is Wolff going to do? He will stay with Mercedes as team boss for another year, if only because he and Ola Kallenius can't seem to agree on the price for the shares he has.
There are also all kinds of other rumours about Wolff. He would like to buy shares in Mercedes HPP, the engine division of the company. But it seems unlikely that this will continue, because the Germans do not want to sell shares in it. Then there are those who say that he has been offered another role at the top of Mercedes. That, in turn, would mean that the team would have to look for a new team boss. The recent mistakes within the team do, however, show that there is tension that affects the important people within the team.