Signs of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff taking a stepping back? The Austrian names his replacement as team boss

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff mentioned that Jérome D’Ambrosio will be replacing him as team boss on the race weekends when he is absent.

The Austrian has bene a main stay at the German team since the 2014 season and guided them to eight constructor's championships. It is very rare that he misses any race weekends since he took over the team but it is very likely that he will sit out the 2023 F1 Dutch GP due to his injured arm.

The Mercedes team boss got into a bike accident in his summer break which injured his arm. Speaking with Auto Hebdo, Wolff said:

“When I am absent on a race weekend, Jérome will replace me. It is true that in 11 years it has only happened three times, but it is a situation that we have to anticipate."

He continued:

"Now, he has to gain credibility within the team and in the paddock, he still has time, but in case I can’t be there, he will be in my place. Jérôme did a very good job last year with his role at Venturi. A small structure, which obviously has nothing to do with ours, which still has 2,500 people."

Wolff added:

"However, he is involved and I must even say that half of his interventions during the grands prix are sensible. I assure you that this is already a remarkable score, James Allison often told me that I said 50 percent intelligent things, and 50 percent nonsense. More seriously, you have to give him time, but I have the impression that he has the right profile to take on this role.”

Mercedes team boss on if he will quit F1 anytime soon

Toto Wolff stated that he previously thought that he owuld quit the sport at 49 but made a U-turn on his decision after altering his goals.

The Mercedes boss said:

“My plan in a way was that when I’m 49, I’m going to stop doing this because as a 50-year-old, you’re grown up, you’re not being team manager any more. But what changed then is what was [previously] the project: buy the shares, and sell the shares, like investments in our finance industry. In 2020, I came to the conclusion to say: ‘I’m going to keep this’.

He added:

"For the first time in my life, I changed my business strategy from an investment guy who buys, develops, and sells, to buy, develop, keep. It was a big change."

It will be fascinating to see when will Toto Wolff pass on the reigns of Mercedes to someone else.