A Winning Formula

TOTO WOLFF built Mercedes’ F1 team into an auto racing dynasty. Their championship days may be behind them, but the billionaire racing boss is more successful than ever.

- Justin Birnbaum

As Toto Wolff surveys a large room at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas headquarters in Brackley, England, his eyes are drawn to the rear axle of a silver car. The right wheel is broken, and it bothers him, prompting him to call for repairs immediately. But the billionaire co-owner and team principal of Mercedes' F1 team is not inside his factory, and this isn't a full-scale $8 million Formula 1 car he's assessing. Rather, Wolff is dissatisfied with a decorative model of a classic Mercedes, only a few inches long. "It just jumps into my eyes," he explains. "In my normal life, it's actually an annoyance for my environment because I just can't stop trying to eliminate imperfection."

That obsessive pursuit of perfection may be a burden for most people, but in Formula 1 racing, where success can be defined by less than a tenth of a second, it has consistently kept Wolff's team on the podium. Over the past decade, the 51-year-old Austrian has collected eight Constructors' Championships, seven Drivers' titles and an astonishing 115 Grand Prix victories-thanks to his flawless machines and Mercedes' marquee driver, Lewis Hamilton. It's an unprecedented run in the sport, befitting other legendary franchises like the New York Yankees and Boston Celtics.

Except Mercedes isn't winning anymore. The team scratched its way to third place last year, taking the checkered flag at just one Grand Prix. Returning to the top looks unlikely in 2023, as Red Bull Racing currently possesses a stranglehold on first place. A financial overhaul of F1 rules in 2021 that limits spending-the cost cap-has stifled Wolff's perfectionist approach, allowing fewer chances to rebound from mistakes.