Why a longer stay of Toto Wolff at Mercedes makes sense

In Dutch football, SC Heerenveen fans once stood on the doorstep of chairman Riemer van der Velde. At the time, the Frisian football club was dangling at the bottom of the First Division, and the supporters were fed up: they wanted to get rid of head coach Foppe de Haan. The eccentric Van der Velde heard the complaining, promised to think about it. The supporters went home. A day later, the chairman extended De Haan's stay in the interim.

"So, that ambiguity is also out of the world again," was Van der Velde's reasoning at the time. The president stood firmly behind his coach, and, with clarity, calm returned internally and externally. De Haan later became very successful with SC Heerenveen and eventually became a club icon. Van der Velde's action then, is reminiscent of Wolff's contract extension.

Mercedes want peace around Wolff

Just when speculation about the future of the team boss and co-owner of Mercedes AMG F1 was becoming increasingly emphatic by the media and fans comes the announcement that the Austrian will stay on longer. Like SC Heerenveen, Mercedes may just have thought: 'We have enough on our minds already. We can't have speculation about Wolff's future for a while'. With the new commitment, the signal towards all doubters is clear: Wolff is the man to do it for Mercedes. End of.

As we all know, Mercedes had two - to put it mildly - lean years. After seasons of dominating Formula 1, the result in the last two years was 'only' one Grand Prix victory. For a team with sky-high ambitions, that is far too little. And yes, Wolff is responsible for the cars with which Mercedes failed to compete with Red Bull Racing. On the other hand: under Wolff's leadership, they did manage to take second place in the constructors' standings last season. If you can't win, then second is always better than third (Ferrari) or fourth (McLaren).

Wolff has proven himself before

Wolff has proven in the past that he can turn a mediocre team that Mercedes was in their early years into an absolutely top team. For all the critics who immediately respond that Mercedes was running around with an illegal car for years? There has never been any proof of that. For years, Mercedes knew how to interpret the rules best and do it by the book. Don't forget that Ferrari and Red Bull Racing did get punished by the FIA for an illegal power unit and exceeding the budget cap, respectively.

Within Mercedes' absolute top brass, people are convinced that Wolff is still the right man to resurrect the team. With so much success, it is understandable that Wolff can count on the necessary credit. After all, you can't always be the best. Even Real Madrid or Bayern Munich sometimes fail to become champions in their countries. Moreover, dismissing Wolff would solve little. After all, who would then have to do the job? There is currently no one in the paddock with the same authority or skill as Wolff - except perhaps Christian Horner of Red Bull. Besides, it is not a given that a team boss who excels in the midfield can also hold his own at the top without any problems. Think of Fred Vasseur. In his first year at Ferrari, he found out that managing Alfa Romeo is different from being the boss of Ferrari, the pride of Italy.

Wolff untouchable at Mercedes?

Mercedes has had some changes at the top of the organisation recently. If another person had left, there was a chance that the team would have become rudderless. For a team under construction, that is fatal. So, is Wolff completely untouchable? Certainly not. He is absolutely required to help Mercedes return to the top. Yet the deadline set for that speaks volumes.

The chances of Mercedes catching Red Bull up under current regulations are negligible. History has proven that in previous periods of dominance by one team. But Wolff will have the chance to lead Mercedes after the sweeping regulations change of 2026. That will be the real measuring point: if Mercedes are number one again by then, Wolff could easily stay for years to come. If Mercedes continues to play second fiddle, then the moment of Wolff's farewell would indeed be close at hand.