Toto Wolff set to join Mercedes in senior management role !
Discussion
News of Wolff's new role at Mercedes-Benz was broken by the German newspaper Bild today, however, neither Wolff nor Mercedes are commentating on it yet
"Sources with knowledge of the situation have revealed, however, that a deal has been agreed in principle but that there remain issues to still be resolved.
One of the biggest hurdles that needs sorting is what happens to Wolff's shareholding in the Williams team."
Unclear if he will be increasing the interest that he already has in DTM or it's direct involement with Mercedes F1
One can only hope that he has little to do with Mercedes F1.
"Sources with knowledge of the situation have revealed, however, that a deal has been agreed in principle but that there remain issues to still be resolved.
One of the biggest hurdles that needs sorting is what happens to Wolff's shareholding in the Williams team."
Unclear if he will be increasing the interest that he already has in DTM or it's direct involement with Mercedes F1
One can only hope that he has little to do with Mercedes F1.
Indeed:
"Toto Wolff is to become a shareholder and executive director of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, it was announced on Monday.
As AUTOSPORT reported, Wolff has agreed to take a direct responsibility in the management of the Brackley-based team as it bids to lift its performances in the next few years.
He will also take over control of all Mercedes-Benz's motorsport activities.
As well as Wolff's new appointment, Mercedes has also announced that its non-executive chairman Niki Lauda is to buy shares in the team."
He will retain his shares in Williams.
I really don't think it's a good thing for Merc F1. Wolff is a money man and that's never a good thing. With shares in 2 F1 teams now, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of a grand plan by him to takeover F1 commercial rights at some point.
"Toto Wolff is to become a shareholder and executive director of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, it was announced on Monday.
As AUTOSPORT reported, Wolff has agreed to take a direct responsibility in the management of the Brackley-based team as it bids to lift its performances in the next few years.
He will also take over control of all Mercedes-Benz's motorsport activities.
As well as Wolff's new appointment, Mercedes has also announced that its non-executive chairman Niki Lauda is to buy shares in the team."
He will retain his shares in Williams.
I really don't think it's a good thing for Merc F1. Wolff is a money man and that's never a good thing. With shares in 2 F1 teams now, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of a grand plan by him to takeover F1 commercial rights at some point.
Edited by woof on Monday 21st January 12:12
woof said:
There's something about him that I really don't like. Seems very fake to me and the fact that he's used his management role to get a seat for his missus in the DTM and as a Williams "test" driver.
He didn't get Susie her DTM seat as that was where they met! She secured that from her own efforts.Marc W said:
woof said:
There's something about him that I really don't like. Seems very fake to me and the fact that he's used his management role to get a seat for his missus in the DTM and as a Williams "test" driver.
He didn't get Susie her DTM seat as that was where they met! She secured that from her own efforts.Susie Stoddart/Wolff - 4 points in seven years of DTM ! and she only got those because there were only 8 cars left on the lead lap. She's certainly not there on her results and driving skill.
( rant over )
Surely if he is a money man and has a stake in 2 F1 teams then he is going to want to see them prosper and therefore want to work on improving both.
Wonder who will o to Williams to replace him if anyone. Dont know who is responsible but Williams did show better form last year even if it the inability to actually finish races means its not so obvious from the record books.
Wonder who will o to Williams to replace him if anyone. Dont know who is responsible but Williams did show better form last year even if it the inability to actually finish races means its not so obvious from the record books.
baz1985 said:
FFS please save us from Merc engines in 2014...they'll take years to master them...see McLaren 2005!
Given that the engines change from 2.4 N/A V8s to 1.6 V6 turbos with ridiculous batteries and electric motors in 2014, everyone will be starting from a new concept anyway.At the moment the cars have an electric budget of 80bhp for about 6s (total energy stored limit: 400kJ).
In 2014 the electric power is going up 2x to 160bhp, and the amount of energy in the system is going up 10x, to 4MJ.
In 2014 the teams will be permitted to recover energy not only from the brakes, but also in the form of heat from the turbo.
In 2014 the fuel limit is 100 litres for the race (at the moment the v8's are using about 150l per race).
In 2014, it's my opinion that F1 will be an engine dominated formula. The equivalency rules of the last few years has got a lot of the audience used to the idea that the power levels of the cars are broadly the same. That's unlikely to continue in 2014.
C
Scuffers said:
so, what does he actually 'do'?
He's an investor. He owns just under half of HWA (which is the company that builds Merc's DTM cars - AMG have bugger all to do with that racing program).He owns 16% of Williams.
It looks to me like a precursor (potentially) to him buying Merc's F1 effort, and Merc retiring from running a factory racing program.
If he did that, presumably he'd sell up his Williams stake, or perhaps keep it as a silent partner.
It's not unprecedented for an individual to have a stake in multiple F1 teams - Briatore owned Ligier while running Benetton and bought a part of Minardi.
C
Scuffers said:
CraigyMc said:
the amount of energy in the system is going up 10x, to 4MJ.
let's all hope that this goes better than GS Yuasa's Lithium-ion batteries in the 787!They (GS Yuasa) are a main sponsor of McLaren too (and supply batteries, for radios and the like - but not KERS) - you'd have to hope it's not their fault that the batteries in the 787 are overheating.
It is quite a new bit of kit for the aviation industry to be using batteries for this - the batteries in the Dreamliner run things that are essential for the survival of the passengers (eg. the compressor for the air in the cabin) - one of the design points for the dreamliner is that the pressurization doesn't use hot bleed air from near the front of the engines, like basically every other jet does.
It's apparently more efficient - lighter and uses less fuel - but it necessitates having the battery to run things in the event of engine failure.
That's the battery which is overheating and causing the cabin to fill with smoke. Not good.
Back in F1 -
Merc's KERS uses batteries from A123 systems -- http://www.a123systems.com/ - who interestinly went into administration in December last year. I wonder if that's going to be a problem in 2013. They do have new owners already (a Chinese concern).
Ferrari and Renault use batteries from SAFT in France - http://www.saftbatteries.com/
C
JIM600 said:
If that turns out to be true, McLaren will suffer a lot. He's a lynchpin.C
JIM600 said:
I've just seen this on another forum, I'd be surprised to say the least but Bild revealed the news about Wolff joining Mercedes and Glock leaving Marussia before everybody else and were absolutely spot on.I hope it's true for Mercedes' sake as I think he's a good guy to have onboard. It would be a big blow for McLaren though.
Does anyone think that Merc are going the same way as Jaguar?
Stuttgart, like Detroit, want to run the team like an extension of their business so keep appointing competent people into management roles because that what works elsewhere in the company. Unfortunately in a dynamic, combative and very narrow industry/sport ego can get in the way when things are going well never mind when they aren't.
Actually Toyota did much the same thing as well. BMW were slightly different as financial crash plus expensive dog of a car when they expected to be winning sounded the death knell for their F1 program and Dr. Mario Theissen.
But back to Mercedes, how long before Ross Brawn says goodbye? He must have personally made £40m+ when he and the other directors of Brawn GP sold it and must be feeling a little sidelined.
Stuttgart, like Detroit, want to run the team like an extension of their business so keep appointing competent people into management roles because that what works elsewhere in the company. Unfortunately in a dynamic, combative and very narrow industry/sport ego can get in the way when things are going well never mind when they aren't.
Actually Toyota did much the same thing as well. BMW were slightly different as financial crash plus expensive dog of a car when they expected to be winning sounded the death knell for their F1 program and Dr. Mario Theissen.
But back to Mercedes, how long before Ross Brawn says goodbye? He must have personally made £40m+ when he and the other directors of Brawn GP sold it and must be feeling a little sidelined.
c123 said:
Does anyone think that Merc are going the same way as Jaguar?
Stuttgart, like Detroit, want to run the team like an extension of their business so keep appointing competent people into management roles because that what works elsewhere in the company. Unfortunately in a dynamic, combative and very narrow industry/sport ego can get in the way when things are going well never mind when they aren't.
Actually Toyota did much the same thing as well. BMW were slightly different as financial crash plus expensive dog of a car when they expected to be winning sounded the death knell for their F1 program and Dr. Mario Theissen.
But back to Mercedes, how long before Ross Brawn says goodbye? He must have personally made £40m+ when he and the other directors of Brawn GP sold it and must be feeling a little sidelined.
Like who ?Stuttgart, like Detroit, want to run the team like an extension of their business so keep appointing competent people into management roles because that what works elsewhere in the company. Unfortunately in a dynamic, combative and very narrow industry/sport ego can get in the way when things are going well never mind when they aren't.
Actually Toyota did much the same thing as well. BMW were slightly different as financial crash plus expensive dog of a car when they expected to be winning sounded the death knell for their F1 program and Dr. Mario Theissen.
But back to Mercedes, how long before Ross Brawn says goodbye? He must have personally made £40m+ when he and the other directors of Brawn GP sold it and must be feeling a little sidelined.
Lowe is TD at McLaren.
Brawn was TD at Ferrari, Team Principal at Honda, (obviously) Brawn and now Merc.
I don't see any technical people being promoted into management that haven't been there before.
Toyota would of worked out, had they kept at it.
BMW pulled out because, basically they just weren't very good.
Rumours are circulating about Brawn leaving, I reckon he'll be given a while longer - if the good tmes don't appear he's for the chop.
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