10/10 Series: Leadership - Toto Wolff
“Success is not about the strongest, but the most adaptable”. These are the words of arguably Formula One’s most outstanding leader, Toto Wolff. Since 2014, as team boss, Wolff has led his Mercedes team to 12 championships in 6 years, winning more than 75% of the races. The numbers suggest then that he has been good at his job. They’d be right. But why is Toto Wolff such a successful champion?
Wolff’s ability to create an open and honest environment, in which each team member is encouraged to flourish sets him apart from other leaders in Formula One and indeed, sport. It is his human touch that has energised the team. Freedom has resulted in innovation, and innovation is essential to maintaining success. In hindsight, it seems obvious that Wolff, who came into Formula One as an investor, would take such a laissez-faire approach. But forget economics. His style is basic psychology.
Wolff famously said that he knows little about how to design an aerodynamic surface but knows a lot about the person in his team that can. This approach to management has been influential in Mercedes’ journey to becoming the most dominant team in Formula One history. These personable skills have led to Lewis Hamilton growing from an all-time great to potentially the greatest of all time. Inspired decisions that Wolff and his former “sparring partner”, Niki Lauda, have taken over the years have yielded dominance. Their star driver, Hamilton continues to perform superhuman acts on the track because he has been in such a stellar mental space. The trust and compassion that Wolff gives his team have led to constant improvement, and with that, trophies.
Iconic Moment: Hungary 2019
In these years of dominance, Wolff has learned on the job and exceeded expectations. Naturally, multiple iconic moments come to mind, many in looking back at successes. Nevertheless, the instance that defines Wolff as a leader came in defeat. In life, we all have bad days but as a champion, bouncing back from challenging times is vital.
Last year, Mercedes celebrated 125 years in motorsport at their home race, the German Grand Prix. Just about everything that could have gone wrong did. It ended with one car in the fence and the other crawling home in the lower places. Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton revealed in an interview earlier this year that following a result like that, neither of them can sleep and it pains them. In contrast, a win is a relief that they move on from pretty quickly. This insight demonstrates the immense pressure that they put on themselves. What is critical is that this pressure doesn’t result in tension within the team. A ‘no-blame culture’ throughout the team creates the space for mistakes to happen and learning to be done - it is an excellent place to work.
One week later in Budapest, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were back on the top step of the podium. I was lucky enough to attend that race, witnessing a masterful display of teamwork, trust and talent. Lewis Hamilton and the challenger to his throne, Max Verstappen, battled it out. Hamilton’s aggressive two-stop strategy came as a surprise to many, not least Red Bull and Verstappen. The extra pit stop meant that Lewis had fresh rubber - a significant advantage on what my burnt legs can vouch for being a hot day. It allowed him to catch Verstappen and overtake him on track, capitalising on the highly degraded tyres that connected the Dutchman’s car to the track.
You will note that Toto Wolff is not mentioned in the description of the race - odd given that this is a race that defined his leadership. It all goes back to the culture that he has created within Mercedes’ team. The victory came as a result of strategists having the freedom to take the initiative and innovate. The team trusted their pit crew and driver (who had had a horror show at the previous race) to rise to the challenge. Only a team with a leader like Wolff can bounce back in this sort of fashion. The results and longevity of success is, therefore, hardly a surprise.