Toto Wolff reveals LIFE-CHANGING connection between Ayrton Senna's death and his career

Toto Wolff

Wolff reveals LIFE-CHANGING connection between Senna's death and his career

Toto Wolff reveals how Senna's death affected his aspirations to become an F1 driver

Luis Raya

Monday 14 August 2023 08:27

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Toto Wolff has revealed how the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 turned his sports career around and changed his outlook on the future.

Toto Wolff is one of the biggest names in today's Formula 1. The Austrian is not only Mercedes' team principal, but also the team's CEO and one of its major shareholders, holding a 33% stake in the Silver Arrows.

After a stint at Williams, Wolff became the executive director of Mercedes in 2013, acquiring a significant percentage of its shares. With the arrival of the hybrid era, the Silver Arrows dominated F1 for years, experiencing one of the most golden periods in history, largely thanks to Wolff's management.

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However, Wolff's beginnings in motorsport were very different. The Austrian started his sports career as a driver, competing in various series such as Formula Ford. Nevertheless, there was an event that changed everything in his sports career, and that was the death of Senna.

"In 1994, when I was at the peak of my junior career, Ayrton Senna died, and two days earlier Roland Ratzenberger. My sponsor, who in a way was taking care of all of us, said: 'I can't do this anymore'", Wolff stated in an interview with the BBC.

"And that was the killer for me. I knew that without his financial support, it wouldn't work" reflected the Austrian, who saw his dream fading away and wouldn't return to racing until years later.

From racing driver to banker

After this harsh event, Wolff had to seek an alternative path for his future and began an internship at a bank in Warsaw, which were tough times for him.

"It was a hot summer. Friends were on vacation or racing cars, and I was working there, sometimes crying my eyes out in the office restroom during lunch breaks,"

"I had to tough it out, and it felt right. I started to educate myself about banking, investment banking, and the markets. And the next dream began, which was to be successful as an investment banker".

In this way, Wolff managed to redirect his career, carving out a place in Formula 1 not as a driver but in the upper echelons, first with Williams and later with Mercedes, becoming one of the most influential figures in F1 in the 21st-century.