Breaking news
Formula 1
Wolff exit may lead to "bad turn of events" at Mercedes
Nico Rosberg has cautioned that Toto Wolff's rumoured departure from the team principal role could trigger "a really bad turn of events" for the Mercedes Formula 1 outfit.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Oct 10, 2020, 4:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The 2016 world champion made the observation in a Sky F1 discussion about why his former teammate Lewis Hamilton has yet to sign a contract for next year.
In recent weeks Wolff has confirmed that his longer term role at the team is still under discussion and indicated that he might not be team principal from next season, while downplaying that a change will have any impact on Hamilton's decision-making process.
However Rosberg suggests that Wolff's future plans will indeed have an effect on Hamilton's thinking, because of the potential changes in the Brackley camp.
"I do think it matters," Rosberg said. "Because Lewis is very convinced that Toto is an integral part of the success of that team, which is true, because Toto absolutely is.
"And it's not guaranteed that if Toto goes and there is a new leader that the stability remains.
"And also if Toto goes it could potentially be a spiralling effect, so that many of the team leaders in the leading positions say, 'OK it's the end of the an era, Toto's going, I loved to work with him, let's also move on to something new.'
"And that could be a really bad turn of events for the team."
Read Also:
Rosberg also made some intriguing observations about Sebastian Vettel, suggesting that his countryman has a "huge opportunity" at Aston Martin in 2020 after struggling at Ferrari over the past two seasons alongside Charles Leclerc.
"First of all these cars are much more nervous than we've ever seen," said Rosberg. "The rear sometimes just snaps, and you can't feel it. And that takes away confidence from drivers a lot. Sebastian has always been a driver who needs a stable rear end, he need confidence in the rear end.
"I think he's gone into a big negative spiral. Things start small, one big mistake when you're in the lead in Hockenheim, another one here, another one there, and then it starts to become a big avalanche.
"It just spirals you negatively, and the more negative you are mentally the more doubtful you are, the more mistakes you do. It just goes from worst to worst to worst.
"Also the team also has Leclerc as their god, and he's not the god anymore. That's also a big spiral downwards, and that's a big shock. He was the number one for Ferrari, for the whole country, and suddenly there's this young Leclerc, signed on a five-year contract. I think it's a big mental thing as well.
"His big chance is Aston Martin, it's a huge opportunity. He's going to be god again in that team, the car is fast, he can have some real success moments and have a positive mental spiral, and maybe come back to being as good as he used to be, and also remove those mistakes.
"So it's a big chance for him, and I'm really happy for him that he's found that opportunity."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Could Red Bull really take on Honda’s engines in 2022?
Next article Norris and Sainz unveil helmets for World Mental Health Day
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Mercedes
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
8 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe