I don't feel pressure as it's my comfort zone," Toto Wolff says as he prepares to lead Mercedes into the last three races of another complicated season for his once-dominant Formula One team.
"That's not a macho sentence because I feel awful and vulnerable at other times, which is more related to life. I've always had mental health struggles, but that's because of my upbringing. That's why my professional frustration doesn't come anywhere near those other experiences I went through."
The 52-year-old team principal has already opened up about his traumatic childhood and depression while revealing fresh insights into Lewis Hamilton's departure from Mercedes - and expressed concern about the way Red Bull's Christian Horner behaved in the bitter fallout last year between the FIA, Formula One's governing body, and Wolff's wife, Susie.
"We all have to carry our baggage," he says, "and what I perceive as trauma and humiliation as a child wouldn't move the needle for someone who grows up in Syria or takes a boat over the Channel to survive. We shouldn't be feeling sorry for ourselves."
Wolff will return to his bruising past, but, as a billionaire F1 boss, he reiterates that his problems are of the most privileged kind.
He steered Mercedes to eight consecutive constructors' championships, from 2014 to 2021, but the next two years the team finish third and second. This season Mercedes will end up no better than fourth and Hamilton, who won six of his seven drivers' championships with Wolff, is leaving for Ferrari next year.
Wolff and Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013. Much has happened since, including Wolff buying a 30% ownership stake in the team, but next year will be very different without Hamilton. "There is an emotional side because we've been on this journey together," Wolff says as the F1 circus heads to Las Vegas this week.
This story is from the November 20, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 20, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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