Mercedes change made as Toto Wolff confirms ‘we don’t want to anymore’ | F1 | Sport
Toto Wolff has confirmed that Mercedes will be focused entirely on their Formula 1 efforts going forward. The Austrian’s announcement signals the end of the team’s technical partnership with the INEOS Britannia sailing team, which competes in the prestigious America’s Cup competition.
Mercedes had been involved in the technical side of the efforts to build a sailboat to compete in the competition. It was felt that there was enough of a crossover between the two sports in terms of aerodynamic performance that boffins within the Mercedes-AMG F1 team’s Applied Science division would often lend their time to the bid for a boat flying the British flag to attempt victory in the America’s Cup.
The partnership came about through their mutual sponsor INEOS – the Britannia sailing team is aming Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s portfolio of sporting business ventures, as well as the Mercedes team of which his company owns 33 percent. But co-owner and team principal Wolff has now confirmed the end of the partnership, and that Mercedes are not looking to get involved in any other spots in the near future.
The Austrian told Forbes: “We don’t want to do this anymore. We’re a Formula 1 racing team. We don’t want to go sailing [and] we don’t want to do any other sports. Complete focus [will be] on only Formula 1.”
Wolff celebrated his 54th birthday on Monday. The occasion was marked by several posts on social media, including from the official Mercedes account. And drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli also appeared in a video together to send on their birthday wishes.
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Antonelli began: “Hi Toto, just want to wish you a happy birthday. You know, despite your age going up, you’re always as handsome as ever, so keep it up!” Russell smirked at that line as he then added: “I know you don’t like people knowing your age, so we’ll just predent that we don’t know that you’re now a mid-50-year-old. We’ll keep that quiet, we won’t tell many people.”
Like his drivers, Wolff has made the most of his time off over the winter break. His wife Susie, the managing director of all-female racing series F1 Academy, posted several photos on Instagram of themselves, children and other family members enjoying some time on the slopes during a skiing holiday. “Offline. Family time. Fresh air. Recharged,” she wrote in the caption.
They have also spent time in Monte Carlo, with the Wolff’s spotted cruising the streets of Monaco in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, one of just 1,858 ever made between 1957 and 1963 and which is valued at around £1million. It is one of several high-value cars owned by the Mercedes boss, who is a billionaire by virtue of his stake in the F1 team.
