F1
The secret life of Toto Wolff
The world knows him as the stern Mercedes team principle. But Torger Christian Wolff used to be a very, very different type indeed.
Toto, the record holder
The Nordschleife of the Nürburgring is rightly considered the toughest racetrack in the world. In April 2009, Toto tried to break the lap record of 7 minutes and 7 seconds in a Porsche 911 RSR. He did it on his first attempt: 7:03.28. Then there was the unofficial—timed by a hand-held stopwatch—Niki Lauda record from the 1970s: 6:58. Toto’s wanted to break that too.
The fact that fingernail-sized chunks of tire were coming loose on the first lap might have given Toto pause for thought. And so the inevitable occurred. He came off at the notorious Fuchsröhre (Foxhole) at 167 miles per hour (MPH). It took months for him to be able to taste and smell again after the fearsome crash; the deceleration on impact had harmed his nerves.
Safety first: record hunter Toto Wolff gets ready
© Bildsymphonie
Helmet on for a drive from hell. “They always say only locals can drive fast here. I drove up from Vienna, practiced a bit and now we’ll see what happens.”
Wolff is visibly relieved after his record run
© Bildsymphonie
The record is gone: 7:03 minutes for 20.8km. Toto said afterward, “The car seems a little bit dangerous to me. Anything can happen on the Nordschleife. You’ll very quickly end up in the local hospital in Adenau if you don’t watch out.”
Related
Car of choice: the Porsche 911 of the 997 model series, with 460 hp
© Bildsymphonie
The Porsche 911/997 was the tool of choice for the attempt to break the Nürburgring lap record in 2009. The 460 horsepower racing car had dominated the 24-hour race on the same circuit in previous years.
Wolff took off in the "Fuchsröhre" at 268 km/h
© Bildsymphonie
Toto’s friend, racer Niki Lauda, called the attempt “the most stupid suicide mission I’ve ever heard of in my whole life”. Porsche said, “It was the worst-damaged roll cage a driver had ever managed to bring in by himself."
Toto, the rally driver
Even though he cut his motorsport teeth on the race track, he was just as taken with rally-driving. And as Toto thought at the time, it would at least provide a lot more fun in a day than you’d get in a long-distance race, which largely consisted of waiting around. He was a latecomer to the rally stages he but he learned quickly. And as we know of Toto, he didn’t do things by half-measures.
From July 2006 to late 2013, he was involved with Raimund Baumschlager’s elite rallying outfit, BRR, and drove their cars, mostly Mitsubishis. The highlight from that period was him coming second in the Austrian championship behind team leader, Baumschlager himself.
No compromises: Wolff's driving style quickly made him a fan favourite
© Harald Illmer
Toto quickly won his way into spectators’ hearts with his uncompromising driving style. And he thought internationally right from the off; in 2002 he even finished a respectable sixth in the N-GT category at the FIA GT Championship.
Dream Team: co-driver Gerald Pöschl (left) with Toto Wolff
© GEPA Pictures
Wolff’s co-driver Gerald Pöschl guided the future team boss through thick and thin in their joint rally years.
Toto's motto in rallying: learning to the limit
© Werner Schneider
Among the established rally drivers, Toto was seen as someone who sought his limits from the upper extreme and learned from his mistakes. He is convinced, “I could have made a living from rally driving.”
Toto, the bull
In the early 2000s, Toto Wolff participated in the FIA-GT World Championships and at other important long-distance races in São Paolo, Silverstone and Spa Francorchamps. He racked up class victories over several years for Porsche, BMW and Ferrari alongside partners such as Karl Wendlinger, Dieter Quester and Philipp Peter. In 2006 he wrote history with the latter pair and German legend Hans Joachim Stuck when he won the first-ever Dubai 24-Hour Race wearing, naturally enough, blue Red Bull overalls.
Toto Wolff: formerly with the Red Bull his chest
© Archiv Dieter Quester
You wouldn’t have thought back in 2004 that this young man with the nice hair and the plastic watch would years later go on to become the successful Mercedes team principal and the toughest rival for his sponsors of many years’ standing, Red Bull.
You can rely on Wolff's driving skills under difficult conditions
© Archiv Dieter Quester
Legendary. Class victory by Wendlinger/Wolff/Quester/Zonca at the 1000 Miles of Interlagos in 2004. And who recorded the quickest lap in the very toughest of conditions? Toto.
Wolff, Quester and Peter after the 6-hour race in Misano in 2005
© Archiv Dieter Quester
Toto Wolff, Philipp Peter and Dieter Quester celebrate winning the 2005 Misano 6 Hours in their BMW E46. Virtually like father and son: Toto has only contested one long-distance race without veteran star Dieter by his side.
