Toto Wolff has revealed he tried to resign as Mercedes’ Team Principal and CEO “several times” during its struggles in Formula 1 under the ground-effect regulations.
The German marque wrapped up its ninth F1 Constructors’ Title at Interlagos.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli had secured a historic maiden F1 Drivers’ Title at Mexico, just a week prior, becoming the youngest-ever World Champion.
At Sao Paulo, Mercedes completed the double, with George Russell and Antonelli taking the chequered flag in fourth and fifth, respectively.
But the team’s dominant success in 2026 came off the back of a period of immense struggle under the ground-effect regulations.
Mercedes’ infamous zero-pod concept at the start of the 2022 season put them on the back foot, and with a deficit they never really could make up to the likes of Red Bull and McLaren until the regulations reset this season.
Wolff revealed that between 2022 and 2025, he tendered his resignation “several times” but was always asked to stay on and lead the team.
“I’ve offered Ola [Källenius, Mercedes Chairman] my resignation several times over the past few years, but he’s always said: ‘You’ll keep doing this,” he told at the 2026 Golden Steering Wheel awards in Berlin.
“The thing is, when you are in these difficult moments, like we all are sometimes in our lives, it’s not that easy to keep going,” Wolff added.
“Because looking back in retrospect, you’re saying, ‘We needed these tough moments in order to grow as people or to grow as an organisation’. But when you’re down, that is quite difficult to feel.
“So looking back, I think those last four years were very difficult, between getting it wrong and then kind of understanding why it was wrong and then realising, no, we didn’t understand. And that was a big back and forth.”
Toto Wolff explains Mercedes virtue despite torrid F1 spell
During the four years preceding Mercedes’ title triumph, the German marque won seven Grands Prix with Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
But given the meteoric success the Brackley-based team had picked up in the turbo-hybrid era, with eight Constructors’ and seven Drivers’ titles, its slump felt even more pronounced.
Wolff explained that despite the lack of silverware, Mercedes had been a pretty competitive outfit in those dogged ground-effect years.
“We will be looking back in 10 or 20 years, and when you look at the statistics, it wasn’t that we were complete losers over those four years, because we finished [third, second, fourth, second successively]. We won races, many races,” Wolff insisted.
“So it wasn’t that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers, but it felt not good. And the resilience of the team – the people that held together in those tough times – is a factor.
“So it feels really good sealing those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after a consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell, and then coming back. So I’m really proud that we are part of this very small group of teams that have done that in all sports.”
Up next for Wolff and Mercedes is the iconic Vegas strip for the Las Vegas GP, next weekend.
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