Nico Rosberg, 2016 Formula 1 world champion, says that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is the best team boss in the premier class. The Austrian has been in charge of the Silver Arrows since 2013 and has since won eight constructors’ and seven drivers’ titles.
Things haven’t been going so well at Mercedes since last year, but Rosberg thinks that Wolff is dealing with the current difficult situation in Brackley really well. “It’s incredibly difficult, it’s an incredibly difficult situation for everyone,” says Rosberg about Mercedes.
“Because they’re so used to success and they’ve written the greatest success story ever written in sport, with eight world championship titles in a row. I think that only happened a few times.”
Rosberg: Why Wolff is the best team manager
“And that’s why it’s very difficult now to accept that suddenly nothing works anymore and that it’s not getting better, but rather worse compared to the end of last year. And yes, Toto is ultimately the one who is responsible and still is For me he is the best team manager and team boss here in Formula 1.”
Rosberg worked with Wolff at Mercedes from 2013 until his resignation at the end of 2016 and can therefore assess the way the Austrian works. “The competence is simple, I’ve experienced that myself and this success in recent years is proof of that,” explains Rosberg.
“But every success comes to an end at some point, that’s always been the case and now it’s just an incredibly difficult challenge to make this turnaround again, to learn to take the right restructuring measures, probably relatively consistently.”
“You probably have to do that, too. Incredibly difficult, because restructuring is usually a small step backwards before you can take the giant step forward and that makes it so difficult.”
Rosberg believes Hamilton will not leave Mercedes
Wolff is currently facing a difficult situation, especially with Lewis Hamilton. With the 38-year-old’s contract expiring at the end of the season, Hamilton might wonder if he’s more likely to win his eighth title with another team. However, Rosberg does not believe in a Mercedes departure from Hamilton.
“What I see is that Lewis is still very, very motivated and he wants to win again, he wants to win another world title and is also working extremely hard,” he says. “Well, as we have now seen in Bahrain: We were all still in the paddock and the last ones still sitting there were George and Lewis in the Mercedes motor home in front of the monitors very late.”
“I think George is also a motivation because he’s very close or almost at eye level and Lewis obviously wants and has to stay up front, that’s clear. He’s very motivated and I don’t think he’s thinking about withdrawing or something like that, but now wants to get back to the front.”