Toto Wolff, the executive director of Williams F1, is leaving the team to become the head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. The 41-year-old Austrian will replace Norbert Haug. It is not yet clear how he will work with Niki Lauda, the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, as he reports directly to the board of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. Wolff is a shareholder in the Williams team and will no doubt be selling those shares at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Wolff bought 10 percent of the company in the autumn of 2009 after it was agreed that the team would float on the stock exchange. When the team was floated he upped his shareholding to 16.3 percent. When the team’s chairman Adam Parr quit Formula 1, Wolff was named Executive Director of Williams F1, acting as the team principal when Sir Frank Williams was not at races.
Born into a family with links to Poland, Wolff was christened with the Norwegian name of Torger. As he grew up in Vienna, this was shortened to “Toto”. The family did not huge amounts of money and so motor racing did not exist in his world until a Viennese friend Philipp Peter invited him to watch a race at the Nürburgring. He enrolled in the Walter Lechner Racing School at the Osterreichring and then started racing a Seat Ibiza. In 1991 he raised enough money to race in Formula Ford and managed his first full season in 1992 with Lechner, racing in Austria, Germany and in New Zealand. In the course of the next three years he did 70 races for the team and was planning a move into Formula 3 in 1994 when his sponsor decided to quit racing, after another of its drivers – Karl Wendlinger – was hurt in an accident at Monaco. Wolff had no money and knew that he was too old and not fast enough for a topline career and so quit the sport and became a salesman in the steel business. After a couple of years he set up his won business selling steel in eastern Europe. By then the Internet was beginning to take off and there were huge IPOs in that sector so Wolff began looking around Austria and talking to Internet start-ups about IPOs. This led to a deal which gave him a share in one of the companies when it floated and so he was able to start investing in other businesses and his company soon became known for its IPO experience. Shortly before the Internet crashed he sold all his shareholdings and took a sabbatical, going back to racing with GTs and touring cars. This led to him helping out some drivers and this led to him becoming involved with HWA, which was managing the Mercedes Benz Junior budget. He got on well with the owner Hans-Werner Aufrecht and in the end he agreed to sell Wolff and some other investors 49 percent of the business, on the basis that the company would then float a percentage of its shares. The company took a look at buying Scuderia Toro Rosso and turning it into an AMG F1 team, the plan being to use McLaren-Mercedes chassis, but they did not have the budget to do the job properly. Colin Kolles suggested to him that he might take a look at Williams and that led to his involvement with the team.
“I was a racer,” he said in a recent interview. “I am a failed racer really, and maybe that is something that is still in the back of my mind. Probably going to see a shrink would be cheaper and less work than investing in an F1 team, but…”
The word is that Wolff may be buying into the Mercedes F1 Team as it has recently bought shares back from Aabar. Wolff may not have the money to pay for a large percentage on his own, but in the past he has worked with silent partners and he may be doing the same again.
It remains to be seen what Williams will do. The loss of Parr and Wolff within a few months will be a blow, but the team has solid management with CEO Alex Burns, although he tends to keep an eye on the industrial side of the operation more than the racing team. The real power in the team remains Sir Frank Williams and in it is entirely possible that he will buy Wolff’s shares off him, in order to ensure continuity.
How good is Bild?
Bild is a big newspaper with a lot to lose and so when a story like this breaks, one needs to pay attention because it was obviously leaked to them.
it does seem to be a bit mixed up but i am sure it will be clarified shortly. if wolff is the director of mercedes motorsport presumably that includes F1. if lauda reports directly to the board then does he also report directly to wolff? needs clearing up as it is a bit of a dogs breakfast at the moment
Williams – get Adam Parr back, if he’ll come. He knew what he was doing – reading his book was highly enlightening. Parr’s problem was Bernie Eccleston. Bernie objected to Parr’s ambition to make it possible for the medium sized and small F1 teams to remain in the sport and be profitable – a pre-requisite for their continued entry every year in the Formula. Bernie seems to be exiting F1 in due course, be it due to retirement or the impending court case, so this would seem not be an obstacle to Parr’s return in the medium term at the very least…
That would not be a wise move – for a while.
A great write up Joe, what a fascinating twist to the plot, Mr Wolff has certainly managed to pack a lot of unusual adventures into his few years with us…
Time I’m scribbling this, the market doesn’t seem moved adversely on the news. Been a while since I looked, as they are buy and forget shares for me, but I’m starting to think that the core of Williams is nicely balanced. In that Adam Parr and Wolff have come and gone, and not a lot has happened to the price, allowing you’re not twitching every moment to get in or out. A contrary possibility is maybe people think that directors other than FW have less consequence than they might have. But I’m inclined to think FW is too level headed to really neuter the abilities of who he chooses to work with. Anyhow, my hunch remains that they simply have a stable plan, and one that neither requires temperamental genius to pull off, nor can be derailed by a individual’s absence. I hope so. That’s about the holy grail in my book of being a proper business, either for oneself, or as a shareholder, epic Apple – like soaring stocks aside. If you think of it as firmly on rails chugging towards it’s plan, that also might just be a bit boring for the ambitions of some, and a reason for them to move on. In that sense, one can be a bit too good at running a tight ship. What you can make as a CxO is usually proportional to the volatility in your business, because things like options and bonuses are a function of change. Therefore, logically, a CxO seeks out a bit more action, or creates it. I can cope with the corporate dullness though, if they will please do the opposite on track this season.
Any chance we will see William’s with Mercedes engines in 2014?
I am surprised that there did not have to be some declaration to the appropriate stock exchange before Wolff’s move was publically announced. Even though there is no announcement to immediately sell his shares his move is obviously a significant change to the company.
Joe,
What’s Mercedes’ game plan for F1? Invest what it takes to succeed? Invest what it takes to make it a self sustaining business & then exit? Have a final throw of the dice, make a show of being all-in to give PR cover for when they throw the towel in? I’m baffled at how this fits with the Lauda / Hamilton moves.
Oh, and – any insight into how Ross & Lewis’ camps are taking this? Was the latter briefed on the plan before he signed, or is this out of left field for him? Thank you.
If I knew the Mercedes strategy I would be Dr Zetsche…
Oh, so you think there -is- one?
And you think it’s not clear what it is to outsiders at present?
In fact, you don’t think insiders know it either, with the sole exception of Dr Zetsche?
(I know, I’m being over-literal again, aren’t I? I still suspect the above might in fact be the case. Anyway, thank you for the response. Much appreciated, both in principle and for its data content).
Ah, but will Williams keep Mrs Wolff as a reserve driver…?
I think you have raised an interesting point Joe. Why would a (partial) team owner leave one team to take a paid position at another?
And on the other side of the Fence, with so many chiefs at Mercedes, why would they employ a seemingly young(ish) upstart like Toto when they have a wealth of experience at Mercedes from which to promote internally? Often by employing someone from outside its senior management indicating that they don’t trust the existing insiders and need fresh eyeballs. Certainly not a vote of confidence by the Mercedes senior management….
Successful acing teams are run by company men. They are run by racers.
In your opinion, which category do Messrs Wolff & Lauda fall into?
I cant wait to see the blog entry about the news on the BBC site from Android Benson that Ross Brawn is set to be off from Mercedes. I won’t believe it is happening until I see it here and if true – I look forward to your well considered take on it Joe.