While Toto Wolff’s future in Formula 1 is uncertain, one thing he guarantees is that Mercedes are committed to the sport at the highest level and showed this by signing up to the Concorde Agreement which runs until 2025.
Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Wolff acknowledged in his team’s Spa-Francorchamps weekend preview, “Last week, we and the other nine F1 Teams agreed to the new Concorde Agreement. We have always said that we wanted to stay in F1, so the agreement wasn’t necessarily all that surprising, but we’re happy that we could bring the negotiations to a positive conclusion.
“We are committed to our sport and we’re looking forward to the upcoming years which will see the biggest transition F1 has ever seen. This will reward agile, open-minded teams who can adapt successfully to the demands of the new rules,” added Wolff.
What will need asking, of the Austrian amid speculation about his future, is: Does the “We” mean plural, as in Mercedes and Toto are committed to the future of the sport? Or the singular with “We” said from the singular Mercedes team (principal) perspective? Time will tell.
Meanwhile, after the defeat to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix earlier this month, Wolff was proud of his team’s reaction, “We really saw our team’s mindset come to life in Spain: After struggling in Silverstone, we analysed our problems and tried to come to the right conclusions within just a few days.
“A lot of people worked tirelessly so that we could have a better race in Barcelona and our strong performance on Sunday was the outcome of that effort. Winning in Spain was a great reward for all the smart work in the days before and it makes me very proud to see how this team just keeps raising the bar.”
That bar is now set at 221 points in the constructors’ championship for the Black Arrows, which puts them 86 ahead of the closest challenger(s) Red Bull as the circus moves to Round 7 at Spa this weekend, the first of a triple-header including Monza and Mugello.
Wolff closed off his preview with a solemn reminder, “This weekend will also be the first time that we return to Belgium after the tragic loss of Anthoine Hubert last year. It was a dark day for the entire motorsport community and our thoughts will be with his family and friends as we remember him this weekend.”