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It was recently reported by Forbes magazine that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is now on the billionaires' list among several other sporting stars.
The Austrian not only manages the team, he also owns one-third of it, along with Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler and INEOS. Wolff is also the CEO of the team.
It's no doubt that he's the most successful team principal in the sport, winning eight constructors' championships with the Silver Arrows from 2014 to 2021. During this time, Lewis Hamilton won six of his seven world titles as the duo reigned in the sport for a decade.
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However, not everyone is too happy to see Wolff reach such staggering heights. After the news broke, F1 Twitterati flooded the social media platform with reactions. Some of them claimed how Wolff became a billionaire with help from Max Verstappen's battle with Lewis Hamilton, which was captured by Drive to Survive and popularized the sport, boosting his worth.
One wrote:
"'Rising popularity of F1' Basically the guy is a billionaire coz of Max? can't discount Toto the businessman."
Some also joked about how Christian Horner would be furious to see Wolff becoming a billionaire and would start a petition or complain about it. Others mentioned how Verstappen's intense battle with Hamilton indirectly helped Wolff.
There were a few, though, who praised Mercedes' team boss and congratulated him on reaching such a massive milestone. Some argued against the discussions about how Wolff should leave Mercedes simply because the team is failing to deliver in F1.
Toto Wolff happy with Mercedes' progress in 2023 Australian GP
Toto Wolff was happy with his team's progress in the 2023 Australian GP. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were able to compete with Aston Martin and Ferrari.
Even though Russell was unable to finish the race due to power unit failure, Wolff was happy with what he saw in terms of performance. Speaking after the race, he said:
"We had strong pace today, and it was really close with the Aston Martins and the Ferraris. That is good news for us, and I think we have made a step forward this weekend, both on one lap and race pace. We maximised what we have, and we need to now comb through the data and continue to learn about the car. This will help bring the upgrade packages, and that will be the key in challenging the leaders more often."
Although Mercedes still have a long way to go if they want to reach the top spot, the weekend at Albert Park showed positive signs.
