"The human gets complacent"- Mercedes' Toto Wolff on learning from Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United's past dominance

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that he studied footballing legend Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United side to understand why great teams decline.

The Silver Arrows have been blunted considerably after an extended period of dominance in F1 which Toto Wolff oversaw. Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes won every F1 world championship they competed in barring last year's Drivers' title, which went to Max Verstappen under contentious circumstances.

Under the new regulations introduced in 2022, Mercedes have found it difficult to fight for wins as consistently as they have done in seasons past.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed he looked at Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who won 38 trophies during his 26-year tenure as Manchester United's manager, and the team's subsequent fall from grace after his retirement. The Austrian said:

“I studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs]. No sports team in any sport has ever won eight consecutive World Championship titles and there are many reasons for that, and what is at the core is the human. The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious.”

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"This team has all it needs to be successful" - Toto Wolff backs Mercedes to return to winning ways

Toto Wolff does not want Mercedes to slide towards mediocrity the way Manchester United have and has a plan to get them back to fighting the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari for top honors soon enough.

Wolff is of the impression that the Silver Arrows have everything it takes to make this current slump in 2022 a mere blip in the long term.

Speaking in an interview with Square Mile, the 50-year-old said:

“I would say I’m enjoying getting it wrong at the moment because it’s the basis for long-term future success, I believe. We have had eight consecutive World Championships – that hasn’t been done in any other sport. And I think I know why. All these facets have come together to make things more challenging at the moment, but at the end of the day it comes down to physics and we got the physics wrong.”

Wolff went on to add:

“We are still the same group of people with the same ambition, energy, tools, funding. Maybe we need to tweak here and there because psychology plays an important role, but I believe this team has all it needs to be successful but with no sense of entitlement. I want this to be a blip and not a longer-term phase of not being able to compete at the front.”

Wolff and Co. are currently third in the World Constructors' Championship standings with 304 points. The Silver Arrows' first target is Ferrari, who are 30 points ahead in P2 as we approach the 2022 F1 Belgian GP.