At Mercedes, employee well-being is a priority
Toto Wolff tells the story of how his teams were successful in the early years of the hybrid era. The Austrian ensures that every employee feels comfortable at the Silver Arrows.
Toto Wolff is a well-known figure to all Formula 1 fans. The director of the Mercedes F1 Team, of which he has been in charge since 2013, revealed in an interview on Sky Sports the secrets behind his team’s performance.
For the Austrian, the best engineers are the most complex. The team manager seeks to create a stable environment for his employees: “I think it is just about recognizing that we are all different. It is my duty to create an environment that allows everyone to thrive. You can be complex, you can be meticulous. We tolerate people being annoyed, that’s fine. We want to have the best, and as I have already said, they are complex,” explained the 51-year-old former driver.
But to have better management, Toto Wolff looks to rugby teams for inspiration. However, the fallback solution would always be the policy of the All Blacks. If you don’t have the foundational values of integrity, loyalty, and sincerity, then you shouldn’t be here, says the boss of Mercedes F1.
A loyalty that the Austrian also emphasized when the team was struggling last season. The former driver never pointed fingers at his engineers.
A challenge in recruiting new engineers
Struggling since last season, with the new regulations, Mercedes is no longer the best team on the grid. It fluctuates between second and third, depending on the races. The budget limit of $138.6 million does not allow for further recruitment of engineers.
The majority of the budget is already fully allocated to the teams. It is used to pay the engineers, current employees, develop the car for the season, and make improvements as soon as possible to compete with the best. The budget could also be allocated to develop the future Silver Arrows car, as suggested by Lewis Hamilton.
