07 February 2024 , 14:12
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Toto Wolff insists plans for his own Mercedes future have not been affected by Lewis Hamilton's impending departure.
Wolff signed a new three-year deal to continue as team principal just last month. Little did he know, just a few weeks later, Hamilton would tell him over coffee that he was going to leave to join rivals Ferrari.
But would Wolff have made a different decision about his own future had he known that his star driver was planning to leave at the end of the coming season? The Austrian insists the answer to that question is a firm: "No."
He said: "It wouldn't have changed that. I think whatever role in the team, or whatever title they give it, I'm going to be there in the future. So it was a no-brainer to continue in an executive role, you can call it CEO, managing director, chairman, or team principal.
"The easiest way was to stick with what we have. It wouldn't have affected me, because I'm so proud of being part of this Mercedes Formula 1 team, that carries this huge legacy of the star and racing history, and we're going to write more history in the future, as the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
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"And that is what I aim to do with everyone in the team, and with everybody in Stuttgart. And therefore as much as this journey is so special, we have 10 or 20 more years before I’m being overrun by a bus to have more success."
Wolff is much more than team principal at Mercedes - he owns a third of the F1 team and so holds even greater sway over its future. His fellow owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Daimler Group have equal stakes in the business.
That trio won't be rushed into making a decision over who will replace Hamilton, but Wolff is confident that George Russell can step up to lead the team into the future. He said: "Our main focus is on the 2024 season now. We have two excellent drivers, we have Lewis in his final year at Mercedes and George eager to get back in the car and perform.
"We need to put a car on the track that has more pace than last year's car and we know how difficult it will be to compete not only with Red Bull but also the others. Also, with all the Lewis discussion, one thing that has not been talked about enough is George - George has the potential to be the next lead driver in the team.
"He is of the generation of Lando [Norris] and [Charles] Leclerc and some of the others and I couldn't wish for a [better] new team leader for when Lewis leaves, no doubt about that. We have such a solid foundation and a quick and intelligent guy in the car - we just need to make the right choice for the second seat."