‘I Have Two Passions: Racing And Investing'

His own career in F1 never got started, but everything else chief Toto Wolff touches turns to gold. Four years in charge at Mercedes F1, four constructors’ championships…

- Tom Clarkson

TAKEN AT FACE value, the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix was unremarkable. Mercedes dominated, coming home first and second – as they did on 11 other occasions that season. But in the context of Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff, the race was unique. His cars finished 1-2-3-4.

At the time Wolff was a shareholder in both Mercedes and Williams, whose cars finished third and fourth. His 30 per cent stake in the Silver Arrows came with the job – ‘Daimler wanted me to have skin in the game’ – but Williams was different. Williams demonstrated his vision as an investor. He’d bought 15 per cent of the team in 2009, when it was struggling, and he sold it in ’14, when the team finished third in the constructors’ championship.

Wolff is a prime example of how F1 is changing. Unlike the sport’s founding team bosses, the guys whose names were above the door, Wolff is more worldly. He has business experience outside F1, as his self-made fortune would attest. The Sunday Times Rich List estimates his worth at £240 million, which isn’t bad for a guy who claims to have performed badly at school.