By: What happened during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in Malaysia has prompted some deep reflection on Mercedes and the immense value of Toto Wolff as team principal and co-owner of the Formula 1 team split between its Brackley and Brixworth bases.
Our reflection stems from two episodes which, at first glance, appear to have very little in common. The first concerns Ferrari. The Maranello marque has recently been engulfed by a highly tense atmosphere, with Lewis Hamilton having no problem directing criticism more towards senior management than at the work being done by team principal Frédéric Vasseur.
The brutal comparison with Vigna
It was therefore no surprise to see Benedetto Vigna, the Prancing Horse’s CEO, in the paddock set up in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, and much to our disappointment, however hard we might try, we cannot find positive adjectives to describe him. When he was approached by Sky Sport F1 interviewers before the start of the race, he appeared lost, as though he had been dropped into a world he did not fully understand. Beyond the comments he made, which we will not discuss, he gave the impression of being completely out of his comfort zone.
Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari CEO, Italian Grand Prix 2026
On the other hand, if we take Toto Wolff as the benchmark, we find a charismatic team principal who is always aware of everything happening in his garage and, above all, remains deeply passionate about the work he is doing. But, in our view, the Austrian manager’s real strength came to the fore yesterday.
As you will no doubt know, the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix was delayed by more than an hour and a half due to a software issue which first sent Verstappen’s Red Bull into crisis before causing anomalies on almost all Ferrari-powered cars.
Toto Wolff’s real strength
During the stoppage, while virtually everyone was simply waiting for the race to begin, we saw a particularly striking scene. Toto Wolff was filmed speaking with several paddock figures outside the Mercedes circle: people from teams affected by the software problems. One of them was Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s team principal, while Valtteri Bottas was also there — his former driver between 2017 and 2021, and now a Cadillac driver. They are people for whom Toto has great respect and friendship.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal and co-owner, Hungarian Grand Prix 2026
This is Wolff’s real strength — a quality which, in our view, makes him Mercedes’ most powerful weapon. Unaffected by the software issues, the Austrian could simply have remained seated and waited for the start. Instead, he immediately took an interest in the matter and, well before the FIA informed everyone what to do, had already gone to investigate the situation first-hand on his own initiative.
There are not many people like Wolff around, and it is no surprise that Mercedes have been able to win so much under his leadership. Anyone would pale in comparison with him.
Cover photo by Peter Kiss / WHYOUT Images
Interior photos by Luca Martini / WHYOUT Images
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Bahrain GP 2026
