F1: Toto Wolff extends at Mercedes

Austrian Toto Wolff, co-shareholder and director of the Mercedes team, announced Monday that he had signed a three-year contract to extend his mandate at the head of the German Formula 1 team, which he has led since 2013. The 52-year-old former racing driver, owner of a third of the team's shares, revealed this after a meeting with INEOS and Mercedes-Benz, the two other co-shareholders.

“I'm not going to try to hold on to a position where I think someone is going to do better than me,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “In the end, the three of us decided: let’s continue.” “For me, the risk is always more of being bored than of being exhausted. This is why I take on the challenges that present themselves to us today, even if they sometimes seem very, very difficult to manage,” he said.

Under his leadership, the German team won the constructors' world championship eight times in a row, between 2014 and 2021. Mercedes finished the 2023 season behind Red Bull, with their star driver Lewis Hamilton finishing third individually. “At the end of the day, as a shareholder myself, I want the best return on my investment. And the best return on investment is victory,” commented the boss of the Mercedes team to the British media.

The announcement puts an end to speculation about Wolff's future at Mercedes. The manufacturer also confirmed on Monday that their new cars for 2024, driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, will be unveiled at Silverstone on February 14.