Toto Wolff reveals what could potentially push him to step down the role of Mercedes team principal

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has revealed that a suitable candidate for his role could prompt him to step aside in the future. Speaking at the team principals' conference ahead of the 2025 Italian GP, the Silver Arrows team principal shared that, in the long run, it will be necessary to identify the right talent to take over his responsibilities.

While Zak Brown serves as CEO of McLaren, Andrea Stella acts as team principal, managing the team on the ground. At Mercedes, Wolff holds multiple roles as shareholder, team principal, and CEO. Since Ross Brawn’s departure and the passing of Niki Lauda, he has taken on many responsibilities, serving as a central figure while other teams decentralize and adopt a more corporate structure.

Wolff believes he is in a position where he could effectively ‘fire himself’. He noted the possibility of transitioning to an executive or non-executive chairman role in the future. Considering age and the longevity of his tenure, the Austrian feels that if the right candidate emerges to take on some of his duties, he might seriously consider stepping aside.

The Austrian cited Brown’s ability to travel and oversee other motorsport operations while Stella runs McLaren as an example, suggesting Mercedes may need to follow a similar approach. Wolff also reflected that he is not the same individual who resumed his role at Mercedes in 2014.

Speaking about the condition of his replacement at Mercedes, Wolff said:

“I'm in a, maybe, little bit more favorite position that in order to leave I have to fire myself. And in agreement with the other shareholders, if I'm not the team principal anymore I can decide to be the CEO or the chairman executive or non-executive chairman. If I feel that I have someone else who can contribute more than I do, I would vacate the spot immediately - or I would maybe only go on the commercial side or only on the racing team side.”

Citing McLaren as an example, the Mercedes CEO added:

“We've become so vast as an organization and you can see the system functions with McLaren, you have Zak who's doing all of the commercial stuff, he's doing events all around the world, which he wouldn't be able [to] if he was in my position, and then you have Andrea who runs the sporting side - so maybe that's the future. I would, in the long term, identify these people that can do that, so if I wake up one day and I thought there's someone who can do it better then I would immediately do this. No doubt about that. Am I the guy [I was] in 2014? Certainly not, but I'm trying to compensate. I was an assassin when I came here - I've become a bit softer and that's not good in the sport, so I need to compensate with intelligence or whatever!”

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Toto Wolff reckons that not focusing on media scrutiny helps with the job at Mercedes

Toto Wolff reflected on the time when media scrutiny impacted his career, questioning whether he was the right candidate for the job. He recalled that while being successful at Mercedes, the intense rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg drew significant attention, leading to scrutiny over his ability to carry out his duties.

Wolff noted that the pressure is even greater for team principals at Ferrari. He also empathized with his colleague and friend Frederic Vasseur, who has faced intense criticism in the Italian media. He believes that not internalizing the scrutiny from newspapers and online sources made it easier to focus on the work at hand.

Reflecting upon the controversial moments in his career at Mercedes, Wolff said:

“At the beginning of my career there was lots of times where I heard 'Is Toto still the right guy?' It oscillated that way from 'the team is the greatest and I'm a genius' to the following weekend, I've lost the authority and my hand on Lewis and Nico is completely escalated and I'm the wrong person for this job.”

“I think that multiply this by a hundred and then you're in Italy. And you read the Gazetta. And I said to Fred 'don't read the Gazetta and don't look at the websites', because that is just... you know in which country they do parody and comedy on a team principal? Fred was really upset about it and I thought it's great.”

Vasseur’s role came under intense public and media scrutiny following the team and Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing 2025 title campaign. Ferrari has since extended his tenure as team principal with a three-year contract.

In Wolff’s case, there has not yet been a need to appoint a successor. However, his recent statements suggest the possibility of eventually passing the team principal responsibilities to a suitable candidate while continuing to oversee Mercedes’ broader F1 operations. With regulation overhauls scheduled for 2026 and 2028, Mercedes will likely need to restructure for long-term stability.