Toto Wolff joined Mercedes in 2013 and has ever since led the team to glorious heights. Ever since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, Wolff has led Mercedes to 103 wins from 139 races, with a record breaking 206 podiums out of 278.
With this much success come a mountain of critics and haters who have taken it upon themselves to knock Mercedes down.
Wolff feels that the 2010 ban on qualifying engine modes and the reduction of rear downforce in 2021 are two changes that have been implemented to hinder them.
“There are areas where I see bias against Mercedes,” Wolff said.
“And here in the group we discuss, is it a pure bias that somebody wants to just penalise us in a way which sometimes is triggered by other teams, or is this something that is really important for the sport?
“We have even accepted some of the biases, because we knew about them.
“We took the conscious decision to accept it. But then there are clear, obvious actions against the team with the only aim to hurt us. And I will be always fighting this.”
Wolff is a man who appreciates values and holds integrity and transparency on high grounds. He believes that those are essential for the success of the sport.
“Integrity in a world where everything is transparent means you’re staying true to your own values,” he added.
“There’s just no millimetre of margin for a lack of integrity. And it’s so important to me that if somebody disrespects integrity when dealing with me, I will break with this person, no matter what.
“It’s a competition that should be carried out on fair grounds. And there are some that have lost my respect forever over the last few years, not a particular incident. And others that I see through their manipulative, amateur Machiavellian behaviour.
“I see the smiles that have hatred or negativity towards us. And then there’s people within the industry that I respect a lot, and I have friendships with them. They try to do the best for the sport, whilst maintaining a neutral position to all teams.
“They don’t ask anybody to be biased to Mercedes, just to do the best for the sport because we all benefit from a good sport. We share the revenues and the better the show is the better the sport.
“That’s why, in a way, I take it personally because I want to protect the organisation. But on the other side, the case studies of individuals that are around the paddock, it’s just very interesting for me to see that.
“They speak about Formula 1 as a shark tank. Most of them are goldfishes that believe they are sharks. And there’s some baby sharks also.”
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