Toto Wolff reveals death fears following horror crash

Mercedes

Wolff reveals death fears following horror crash

The Mercedes team boss is lucky to be alive

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 23 August 2023 09:12

Toto Wolff has revealed that he feared he might not walk away from a horror crash in 2009.

The Mercedes team boss is largely considered as one of the greatest Formula 1 team principals, guiding the team to eight consecutive constructors' championships between 2014 and 2021.

He has since displayed different skills through Mercedes' difficult past few seasons, and hopes to guide the team back to success.

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However, in a recent interview with the BBC, Wolff has explained how he is lucky to be alive following a crash at the Nurnburgring in 2009.

"They found me lying on the grass behind the crash barrier with my helmet on and I thought I was dead," he said.

"The first memory that came back was in the ambulance when I felt a strange tingling sensation in my legs. I thought it would end in paralysis. It was really the dumbest idea of my life."

Niki Lauda warned Wolff not to attempt fast lap time

Wolff's crash came as he attempted to break the course record of seven minutes and five seconds in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

The late, great Niki Lauda of course suffered a horror crash at the Nurnburgring of his own at the German Grand Prix in 1976, which left him with life threatening injuries before he miraculously pulled through and a permanently scarred face from fire damage.

Niki Lauda's horror crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix left him lucky to be alive

Wolff has revealed that his close friend warned him not to attempt such quick lap times around the circuit.

“Niki had his bad accident where he almost died in the flames. He said to me, 'Don't be so stupid. Nobody cares about the lap time on the Nordschleife. you could kill yourself. Look at me.'"