"Karma exists"- Mercedes' Toto Wolff advises F1 teams to focus on winning GPs in the 'right way'

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff believes teams need to focus on winning championships correctly and not get carried away with the hunger to win. The Austrian believes winning championships with integrity is important for a team in the long run.

Speaking in an interview with Square Mile magazine, Wolff said:

“I don’t know if it gives us an edge over the other constructors because we are all different in our approach. The sport is, after all, an entertainment product and the 'win at all costs' mentality is something that I would have endorsed a couple of years ago. That’s very much the American way of just crush the opposition, whatever it takes.”

He continued:

“Today, I still want to win, but I want to win in the right way. I have values and a mindset that I want to stand for in the team. I believe in humility, in honesty, integrity and transparency. These are ingredients that are important in the long term. You may have someone that wins but doesn’t win in the right way, but that’s not going to last. And…karma exists.”

Without dropping any team names, the Mercedes team boss believes Karma returns to those who cut corners to win championships incorrectly. Wolff stressed the importance of winning championships with integrity and felt the longevity of a team in the sport depends on its values and ways of winning.

One of the teams that was banned for cheating was Renaultt in 2009 that was never able to win even after its return as an outfit. Ferrari too was suspected of cheating with its engine in 2019 and was given a slap on the wrist by the FIA, after which it did not win a race until 2022.

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Mercedes team principal feels his contribution to the team should be remembered with the success

The Silver Arrows team principal and co-owner feels that his tenure with the eight-time world championship winning team should be defined as a respectful era in the sport. Wolff believes that as long as he co-owns the team, his employment contract will not define his tenure with the team.

Commenting on Mercedes’ success with him as the team boss, Wolff said:

“I’m not looking at one race or one season, I’m looking at ten or twenty years. My perspective is long term because I’m a co-owner of the team. My time will not end with my employment contract, so that allows me to look beyond my 'shelf life' of the next decade. I want to be able to look back and say, 'We did it the right way, and we were successful’.”

Mercedes has won eight titles and has been identified as being the most dominant team in the V6 hybrid era of the sport. However, the new aerodynamic regulations have put them on the back-foot in 2022.

In recent years, teams such as Ferrari, Honda and Alpine have also caught up in their ability to produce competitive engines that match or outperform the Silver Arrows' engine.