Opinion - Why Toto Wolff's Comments on VB's Return Are Worrying

In an interview published on January 31st 2025 by RacingNews365, Toto Wolff commented on reserve driver Valtteri Bottas' appearance.

While on the surface it may seem all in good fun, as Bottas has been sporting a bleach blond mullet for the past few years, the message underneath has been on my mind since reading it.

For those of you who are either new to Formula 1 or unaware of VB's time with Mercedes, I'll give you a bit of insight. Something revealed to the general public in 2023 during an interview with the driver was that he developed an eating disorder at the start of his Formula 1 career in 2013. After the passing of Jules Bianchi, he searched for and received help. However, he went through another turbulent period in 2021, when he was unsure of his future at Mercedes, or in F1 in general. Bottas was replaced by George Russell going into the 2022 season, and he shifted to Alfa Romeo, which then became Stake - Kick - Sauber.

A marked difference between Mercedes Bottas and Alfa Romeo/Sauber Bottas is his, for lack of better term, vibe. While his bleach blond mullet is obviously a visual change, it is very clear the past few seasons in an environment that didn't heavily critique him has allowed him to blossom into more holistic version of himself. He went from being a strict, firm, somewhat subdued personality, to an engaging, quirky, unique person. Albeit his newfound freedom did encourage him to lean into ... well .... creating a nude calendar, all proceeds went to charity. Bottas also picked up individual sponsors due to his blossoming, and is perceived by so many F1 fans in a different light.

Bottas returning to Mercedes as a reserve driver is somewhat of a safety net for his career. Yes, Stake - Kick - Sauber was the wrong choice in hindsight, but it was a way for him to bloom into himself.

Therefore, I felt that Wolff's comments were a little odd. Over the past year or so, I've spent a lot of time observing Toto Wolff. I mean, if the whole Horner situation hadn't happened, I feel like more people would've spent more time observing him like I have. Analyzing him for more than what he does, really trying to dig into the whys of Toto Wolff.

Wolff is a bit of an oddball figure to me in Formula 1, because he is both CEO and Team Principal. If he was merely the CEO, comments about his employee's appearance would make sense. He would be saying from a corporate setting, somewhere nestled deep in a boardroom or a stateroom or something equally as fancy, that he wasn't pleased with the product. Then the Team Principal would relay that, but perhaps not in a published interview, and definitely not where the driver could read it.

To compare Wolff to fellow CEOs, I have not seen Zak Brown publicly comment on his driver's appearances so much as they need to 'fit with the corporate mold'. I cannot see Lawrence Stroll doing such a thing either, despite the fact he made him fortune in fashion. Overall, it's just an odd thing to say.

Combine that with the fact he's also the Team Principal? It's a bit strange.

Over the past year, my biggest observation from watching Wolff and Mercedes is that Wolff needs to hire an actual Team Principal. In 2023 he broke a shoulder and had to call in to talk the team through things because there were too many personalities. That should have been a call to one other person and then he could focus on healing his shoulder. In early 2024, Wolff admitted that he was planning on staying home for some races, only to backtrack when there was public criticism of his plan.

If Mercedes had a Team Principal, he wouldn't have to be dealing with these issues.

In an ideal world, his wife would be able to hand off F1 Academy to an equally experienced woman and step into the role. However, this is not an ideal world, and that is not a possibility. In fact, Toto himself told Susie that he wasn't sure F1 Academy would happen. He and Mercedes were not the first team to join - I'm actually about 90% sure she said Fred and Ferrari were the first to do so.

Anyway, I digress. While the other Wolff is not available, Mercedes have plenty of capable personnel who are able to fill that role. We've already seen one leave to attempt it at Williams with various levels of success. Longtime employee Andrew Shovlin could probably do a good job with the role, as he predates Wolff at the team. He came with the purchase of Brawn.

If he'd rather hire someone who already has decent experience, I know that Mike Krack is no longer the Team Principal over at Aston.

However, it's very clear Wolff wants it done the Wolff way, and doesn't want any interference from others. Otherwise, there would be a Team Principal in place and we wouldn't be having this conversation. While VB is a grown man, I think it's quite unfair to openly say that you're going to be making someone shrink their personality to fit your mould. Especially when that personality is what is attracting fans to him, and the thing you said no to is for charity.

Either have VB get rid of the mullet quietly and announce he will be taking a year off from the calendar, or let him keep his mullet and charity calendar. The denigrating of VB before the season even begins is quite disturbing. It's offering your former employee a safety net, but a safety net with a lot on the line.

Especially since this is the first year ever that Toto Wolff has not had a world champion on the Mercedes team. His butchering of the re-signing of Hamilton, which lead him to depart for Mercedes, and his consistent drive to have 'the next Verstappen', or even Max himself, over the past year, have led to some curious choices.

Lets start with Hamilton. Both sides have attempted to keep it relatively clean as to what happened behind closed doors, but what I've ascertained is this.

1. Hamilton wanted a longer deal than a 1+1 (which is what I think he was being offered). He wanted to end his career with Mercedes. The board (allegedly) said no.
2. Hamilton wanted to have a brand ambassadorship with Mercedes, like a lot of drivers do with their teams after retirement. The board (allegedly) said no. However, there are reports that the board is willing to offer it to Max Verstappen if he signs.
   1. That's right. Not Hamilton, not current driver Russell. But Verstappen, a man who has never set foot inside of a Mercedes. That's who they see as their brand ambassador.
3. Wolff wanted the opportunity to move up Antonelli ASAP (which he got) as well as keep the door open for Verstappen. Neither could happen with Hamilton in the seat without sacrificing Russell. Which, going into 2025, is still an option.
4. Fred Vasseur, someone who has a long history with Hamilton, recognized the opportunity and took it. This is also funny considering how close he is personally to Wolff.
5. Hamilton approached the deal and Ferrari made it happen. There was no disagreement as to what he was worth or his requests, he was simply told yes. And that is not something that was possible at Mercedes, which I see as a failing of Wolff. Lewis is bigger than the sport, and to let him walk over things he has rightly earned because you refuse to back him 100% is not logical thinking.

Now we get into a smaller part of why Wolff's comments were worrying. The driver that Wolff maintained going into the 2025 season, who won two additional races in 2024, is George Russell. Russell will never be the next Verstappen for two reasons. One, they are the same age and grew up competing together. Two, George Russell does not have the grace of nepotism behind him.

But Verstappen? No matter your feelings on Jos Verstappen, he made sure his son was seen as a possibility from a young age and never let go of that dream. Verstappen was a lineage, and F1 loves lineage.

Lineage is also something Toto Wolff had with his original lineup at Mercedes. A 7x World Champion in Michael Schumacher, and the son of a world champion - and later one in his own right - in Nico Rosberg

Russell made it happen for himself. When his father told him it would be his last season of racing until he figured something out, a fifteen year old Russell wrote Wolff an email asking for a meeting. Then, after getting the meeting, showed up by himself to advocate for a chance in their academy and to be developed further. He was signed to a ten year management contract and development deal after that.

There is very little else Russell could've done in the following ten years to prove himself. He won F2 in his rookie year, slogged through some dreadful years at Williams, learned to be resilient in the face of frustration (albeit with a few tears) and ready to come into Mercedes, head held high next to his childhood idol. Russell has worked incredibly hard to mold himself into the Mercedes company man that he desperately wants to be and is, by some fans, shamelessly mocked for.

However, once he rose to Mercedes, after his first win, he let a bit more of himself shine. While some may say it's a vain thing, the growth of Russell's hair from the perfect coif he had it in until 2023 into the curly, wavy look of mid 2023 - end of 2024 showcased a different side of him. Next to the star that is Lewis Hamilton, maybe not as obvious, but he definitely started to become more of himself with that partnership. His own unique footprint, sadly with a few Canadian tuxedoes in the interim.

But a stylist has been hired by corporate for both him and his rookie teammate Antonelli, and the curls have been cut off. Though I doubt we'll see George try to repress his Englishness (the blimeys, the crikeys, the ifs and buts and carrots and nuts), it seems that he will be conforming back to the corporate look that Toto prefers. Gone are his Tommy Hilfiger posts, instead replaced by photo after photo on his personal Instagram of their new sponsor, Adidas.

Though Russell has repaid Wolff for his risk, I do think he is incredibly loyal to the team and company of Mercedes. Instead of leaving, I see more of the dumping of Russell as an option rather than Russell leaving on his own free will. Which, honestly, I find a ridiculous idea. Yet if Team Verstappen came calling, I have no doubt it would probably be Russell with the boot. I also do not think that Russell will be able to win a WDC with Mercedes until he leaves the sphere of influence that Mercedes has on him. Every great (not just good) driver has the leap of faith, I'm unsure if Russell would take it unless forced to. He started at Williams, not to be the face of their team, but to incubate for Mercedes.

That has been his dream, to be a Mercedes driver, and I'm not sure he'll let it go. Therefore, he will conform. To take this dream life from him, you'll have to wrestle it from him with both hands.

My personal dream for Russell is for him to depart Mercedes at the end of this year for Aston Martin, leaning into a unique narrative that exists between him and Lance Stroll. This will lead as the final deciding kicker for Stroll, a teammate who is his equal and no longer someone to 'learn from'. Combined with fifteen years of racing history between them, Stroll being the first to deal with Russell's critical tongue in F3, I think Aston would be the place Russell would win his first WDC and, as a team either with Alonso or Stroll, bring them home their first WCC.

I also think it would be the wakeup call that Wolff needs about restructuring Mercedes. To lose your world champion, and then your homegrown talent, and ideally your reserve driver to Cadillac, you're left with the unknown of Antonelli.

Which is where this wraps up. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is an eighteen year old making his debut in Formula 1 for Mercedes this year. He marks the first time a rookie has debuted for a top tier team without a solid development year since ...

Well, since Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli is Wolff's answer to Verstappen. From a racing family, he too skipped a level of Formula and may be woefully underprepared for the job ahead of him. Unlike Verstappen, who didn't have to clear the super license bar to make it to F1, and unlike Stroll, who did clear it in 2016, Antonelli did spend a year in F2. He skipped F3 completely, which both Verstappen and Stroll completed. Like Verstappen, Antonelli didn't win his final campaign before F1. Verstappen came in third in F3; the winner that year was Esteban Ocon. Unlike Verstappen, it didn't really feel like a title fight with Antonelli, more like Wolff biding his time with Antonelli until he could get him into a car.

Yet Antonelli idled. Hamilton was not going to give up the opportunity to drive for even a moment, especially in his final year with Mercedes, the team that brought him six of seven titles. Taking Russell out of the car would have been an idiotic move, especially after his wins. Either way, the W15 was not a car for the naive and inexperienced, and I'm slightly worried that the W16 will be the same.

Let me be clear - I do not want Antonelli to fail. I see the same promise in him everybody else does. But I feel like Wolff, clouded by the promise of his own Verstappen, has set him up to struggle. This isn't Williams, where Russell cut his teeth, slowly rebuilding a program with a teammate that is willing to be that. This is Mercedes, with a teammate who is a contender for the title this year. While I think Russell is a fine teammate out of the car, Antonelli will not get a lot out of him. Russell has a title in his sights and like a viper, he is out for blood. He won't get grace with any of the big dogs going to play either, unless somehow Aston Martin gets their car together and Alonso is up front.

For those of you who want to argue that he has more grands prix run as a simulator or on track than most, the issue with that is he is alone. You can have 100 perfect races on a track or in a simulator alone. It will never, ever be the same as the scrap of turn one with people like Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri and even teammate Russell up there. Strategy and knowing your opponent and knowing how to get the car to the finish line in any situation isn't something that can be simulated and guessed at. It has to be learned.

His fellow F2 graduates that are joining the grid in 2025 with him have the space to learn and grow, along with teammates that may be a bit more forgiving and educational. Bortoleto will learn patience and forgiveness from Hulkenberg, Bearman will be able to observe the single-mindedness and strengths of race winner Ocon at Haas, Hadjar will hopefully learn how to tamper his temper with Tsunoda, and Doohan will be able to ask Gasly about no-win situations at Alpine. Though Haas and Alpine are careening towards the front of the pack, it isn't the same expectations as what's at Mercedes.

Russell has a lot to teach, but with what time? Would Wolff sacrifice a title to get the twinkle in his eye trained up? Would he run the risk of losing Russell voluntarily by holding him back?

But who knows? Maybe I'm completely wrong. Maybe Antonelli isn't the next Hamilton or Verstappen, but the first of his own. Maybe he'll equal Russell out of the gate like Hamilton did to Alonso, maybe there is no need for learning.

On the other hand, with Williams saying they are no longer a junior team, maybe there was no space for Antonelli to learn.

Which cycles back to Bottas returning. There has to be a safety net in case Antonelli can't adjust.

However, it seems like the safety net could strangle not only Valtteri Bottas, but the other two drivers in the process. Russell is coming into his prime and should have several seats available if he decides to walk for whatever reason, Bottas an equally as appealing option, primarily to Cadillac, and Antonelli is comfortably locked in for another year.

Or will Wolff realize what I have laid out in this piece. That the time has come and gone for him to be the only head in the game. Will he see reason, or will a fall from grace force him back to Earth like the rest of us?