15 January 2024 , 09:51
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Toto Wolff has signed a new three-year deal to continue as Mercedes F1 team principal.
The Austrian, who is also a one-third owner of the team, has committed his future to leading its operations on a day-to-day basis. The news comes despite suggestions his position may be under pressure amid a lull in Mercedes' fortunes.
After eight constructors' titles in a row, the Silver Arrows have been thoroughly beaten by Red Bull in each of the last two seasons. But Wolff will not pay the ultimate price for his team's decline in fortunes.
Instead, he has agreed with co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Ola Kallenius of the Mercedes motor company that he will continue as team principal. "I think the most important thing between the three of us is that we trust each other," Wolff told The Telegraph.
"At the end of the day, as a shareholder myself, I want the best return on investment. And the best return on investment is winning. I'm not going to try to hang on to a position that I think somebody is going to do better than me. I make sure that I have people around who can tell me otherwise. In the end the three of us decided, 'Let's do it again'."
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The new contract will keep Wolff with the team until the end of 2026. That means he will oversee at least the first season of the new era of engines that comes into force that year, while the commitment is one year longer than the contracts that drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell currently have.
Wolff has looked visibly strained by his team's decline in fortunes over the last two years. He celebrated his 52nd birthday last week and missed two races towards the end of last season to undergo knee surgery - but insists burnout is not likely to be the cause when he does eventually step away.
He said: "I’m a co-shareholder. I’m on the board. These are things which will not change whatever executive, or non-executive, role I have. But I feel good. The risk for me is always more bore-out than burnout - and that's why I embrace the challenges we have today, even though they sometimes feel very, very difficult to manage."
And he insists he is confident he will be able to steer the team back to winning ways and help Hamilton to finally secure that elusive eighth world title. Wolff said: "There is a reason Lewis is a seven-time world champion, and has broken all the records... his ability is on a different level. If we are able to give him a car that he actually feels, that drives in a way that he can trust, he will be on the level that's needed to win the championship. 39 is no age.
"Always believe it's possible. You cannot start the season with an attitude of, 'This is not going to be possible'. We saw last year with McLaren, what a huge step they made with a single upgrade. We've signed a two-year deal with Lewis, and we owe it to him, to George and to all the team to give it our full attention in 2024 and 2025. I think it's possible."