Team manager in F1 is not a job like any other. More and more, engineers have left their position to managers, given the size of modern teams that bring together hundreds and hundreds of engineers.
For Insider, after Günther Steiner , Toto Wolff confided in the peculiarities of this profession. For him, there are common functions between his activity as team manager and investor: understanding people’s feelings and well-understood interests.
“It’s about understanding the organization, having a real interest in people, understanding races and funds. It’s a bit of all of that, but the most important thing is interest in people. “
” Pilots have different personalities, one of them charisma needs a different mode of interaction than the other to be in the best possible position mentally and in the car. »
« I am an emotional person. I protect my tribe. This is how I see my family, my group of friends, my business and the team. I won’t let anyone hurt the tribe. This is why I can be very emotional, but I know it, which means that over the years I can look and say don’t take it too personally, because there is always someone else out there. has a different schedule and you have to stick to it. “
” There are days that are purely related to efficiency when I don’t talk too much, even though I attend meetings on the component methodology of things that interest me a lot. On the other side, there is the commercial component of our activity. We have a turnover of over 500 million bucks. »
But Toto Wolff does not approach his job as an absolute cynic, to maximize efficiency at all costs. For him, integrity is a very, very important value; words which obviously take on a certain resonance in this season of tensions and controversies with Crimson Bull and Christian Horner.
“As with any other person, I interests me and what I say will always be guided by convictions. That is, loyalty, integrity, sticking to the truths, not dealing with lies and these are the fundamental pillars for dealing with anyone. »
Refuse self-indulgence
If team manager is a particular job, managing Mercedes is even more so: the team has simply won every championship since 2014. We must therefore avoid a huge enemy: auto-pride.
“There’s a reason not many teams win world championships. There are very few who win back-to-back championships and there aren’t any – in any sport – who have won seven straight titles. “
” We have already set the bar high enough, and complacency is one of the reasons why teams are starting to lose. That means you have to tackle it directly. You should know that the lack of objectives, the lack of energy, the lack of motivation, the complacency, the feeling of being in its rightfulness are all factors that contribute to the downfall of a team. »
And to illustrate his point of view Toto Wolff improvises himself as a historian of Antiquity…
« The Roman Empire fell because he had no more countries to conquer. “