Wolff wants an unloved W13 F1 car to remind Mercedes to be bold

Toto Wolff says the unloved Mercedes W13 Formula 1 car will be placed in the lobby area of ​​the team’s Brackley factory to encourage staff to make brave decisions.

At one stage last year, Wolff suggested that the 2022 car, which eventually won the Brazilian Grand Prix in the hands of George Russell, should be handed over to the “caves” of the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart.

But instead, Wolff later considered placing the car in the F1 team lobby as a reminder not to be complacent, but now says the point of displaying it would be to encourage his staff to make decisions brave and not afraid of failure.

“He’ll go to the hall,” he said. “But I changed my approach a bit because I wanted to put it in a lobby as a reminder not to rest on our laurels.

“But I actually want to put it in the lobby because it’s a symbol of boldness for me and courage. Last year we took a radical design direction. We dared and failed.

“So, to me, that shows a lot about the team mentality, how to deal with success or failure at the same time. And I wouldn’t want us to go conservative in any way or shape, and I want us to take a calculated way. take risks and be brave.” .

Wolff says the team learned a lot from its difficult 2022 season, including avoiding the blame culture.

“We talked about it every year when we were successful,” he admitted. “This, finally, we will have a difficult one, because there is no sports team in the world that has won every competition in which it has participated.

“That moment came last year, and it was tough. It wasn’t one race that went wrong, it was a whole season, or at least the first half of the season.

“So it was about really living up to our own standards, staying motivated, not blaming anyone in the organizations, but sticking our heads together and trying to get out of the dilemma.

“This is something that showed the strengths of the team and our values ​​and mentality. We hope that it can be a good and continued basis for our growth.”

He says he’s also gained a lot personally from the fight to make the W13 competitive: “I learned a lot about myself. We learned a lot about the team, how we interact with each other, because you prepare for the situation.

“But last year was rough and tough because it wasn’t one race, or two or three, it was a big part of the season that we didn’t do as expected.

“We went through the rollercoaster of emotions of seeing a good race and then the next one was even worse and managing your own expectations was tricky.

“I think I’m better personally, as a manager, and also the organization, we’ve learned a lot from each other. And we’ve taken it directly.”