Even though Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff was neither on site in Japan nor Qatar, the Austrian was omnipresent for his team.
“He was virtually in every meeting and was present at all strategy discussions and debriefs,” says Mercedes communications boss Bradley Lord. “Although he wasn’t physically here, he still had a strong presence on the team.”
Wolff underwent knee surgery after the Singapore Grand Prix, which is said to have been caused by an old cruciate ligament injury. He then skipped the races in Japan and Qatar to recover.
“He was in Monaco this weekend because after his knee operation the doctors advised him not to get on the plane but to let his knee heal so that he would be fit for the last races,” says Lord.
But that doesn’t mean that Wolff doesn’t have the same presence as if he were there as usual: “He has exactly the same setup at home that we have in the garage, so he can follow everything in real time and also make a contribution.”
In this respect, from Mercedes’ point of view, everything went as normal as always. “He wasn’t able to travel, but he did his usual part throughout the discussions,” says Lord.
Mercedes is happy about a “pretty strong comeback”
Wolff was even able to join the drivers in the cockpit. Among other things, the Austrian could be heard on George Russell’s radio when he had to come into the pits and was arguing after his collision with team-mate Lewis Hamilton. “George, we’re leaving now,” he said. “Let’s make the best of it.”
Mercedes did the same after the collision. They were able to focus on Russell and bring him back up to fourth place. “The fact that we were able to get two more points than Ferrari after the first round was a pretty strong comeback,” praises Lord.
“At the end of the race we were wondering what we could have achieved, but nonetheless it was a really solid comeback.”