Toto Wolff Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Mercedes unveiled their 2018 car today at a cold Silverstone circuit. The brand new W09 is the latest in the royal bloodline that has won four consecutive drivers and constructors championships. If the team can achieve that feat again this season, they will equal the success of the Michael Schumacher era at Ferrari. To do so the new W09 will need to be less of a diva than its predecessor which saw Ferrari put up a close fight and get Sebastian Vettel past Valtteri Bottas inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Mercedes has revealed its plans to continue to support Pascal Wehrlein for the upcoming season despite not finding a place on the 2018 Formula 1 grid. The 23-year-old German captured the DTM championship in 2015, which helped elevate him in the Mercedes program and into a seat at Manor the following year. He managed to score Manor’s only point of the season with a 10th-place effort in the Austrian Grand Prix. Moving to Sauber in 2017, Wehrlein wasn’t able to contend a Grand Prix until theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Valtteri Bottas will stay in silver for 2018. The two-time race winner has signed a new one year deal with Mercedes AMG Petronas to partner with Lewis Hamilton for a second season. The Finn was quickly added to the team over last winter after 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg shocked the racing world by announcing his immediate retirement. He has more than proved himself throughout 2017, in addition to his two wins in Russia and Austria, he sits third in the drivers’ standings and has stoodRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Before we discuss some of the changes hitting Mercedes, let’s take a look at some of what was accomplished under the old regulations. First off, they enter 2017 as the defending champions as a constructor, and as a driver’s champion with the Nico Rosberg.  The past three seasons have seen the German outfit capture three constructor titles, which were matched equally with driver’s championships, along with 51 victories. However, the stunning retirement of reigning F1 champion Rosberg put the team in a bit of a scramble.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Mercedes have revealed their 2017 car – the W08 – at Silverstone on Thursday. Lewis Hamilton completed a handful of laps for filming day on a damp day on a set of wet Pirelli tires at the circuit that hosts the British Grand Prix. After a series of short stints he returned on slick rubber, ramping up the pace before pitting the car for the official launch. Valtteri Bottas also enjoyed a brief run in the afternoon, his first run with the team since moving overRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After Paddy Lowe’s shocking departure for Williams, Mercedes AMG Petronas has confirmed highly rated ex-Ferrari and Renault man James Allison will take the helm of technical director for the Silver Arrows. Allison brings a breadth of experience and is known as one of F1’s foremost experts on aerodynamics, something the 2017 regulations have put back in the spotlight. He worked at Benetton, Larrouusse, Ferrari during the Schumacher years, Renault during the Alonso years, Lotus during their brief resurgence with Raikkonen, and then Ferrari for the lastRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2017 Formula 1 season is drawing near and with it hopeful answers to the uncertainty that looms over it. The big elephant in the room is who will be replacing reigning world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes? Several speculate that Toto Wolff is set on bringing in Valtteri Bottas from Williams to pilot alongside Lewis Hamilton. Bottas is remarkably talented, but there are reasons to halt that idea and go a different direction. There is a good chance that whoever takes over the seat isRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Mercedes released a statement today confirming the widely held belief that their technical chief Paddy Lowe is leaving the team he helped steer to three consecutive championships. As we first reported one month ago, Lowe is bound for Williams, but contractual and financial negotiations have been complicated by Valtteri Bottas’ talks with Mercedes over Nico Rosberg’s vacated seat, and Felipe Massa’s potential return to the Grove based squad. Such news formally coming to light indicates that some manner of solution has been found at the crowded negotiation tableRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Brazilian media sources are now reporting that recently retired F1 driver Felipe Massa has signed a deal with Williams to return to the grid in 2017 for his former team. By doing so he paves the way for his old team mate Valtteri Bottas to join Mercedes and fill the vacancy left by Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement. Massa, who announced his retirement in September at the Italian Grand Prix was apparently eager to come back and help his former team. Williams had a desperate need forRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Dashing the Christmas wishes of many drivers, Mercedes has announced that it will not name a successor to Nico Rosberg’s vacated seat till 2017. After newly crowned Rosberg announced his retirement, Mercedes has been in desperate straits to name his replacement ahead of the largest technical changes the sport has seen in 20 years. Much to their chagrin, top drivers Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are under ironclad contracts with McLaren-Honda and Ferrari. Recently retired veterans like Jenson Button and Felipe Massa are not viable optionsRead More