Toto Wolff’s X-rated response revealed over Mercedes exit

An X-rated piece of advice from Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has been revealed in response to losing a key member of his team.

Former Mercedes motorsport strategy director James Vowles quit the squad after the 2022 season having previously helped the team win eight consecutive constructors' world championships between 2014 and 2021.

Vowles instead joined Williams, becoming the Grove-based outfit's team principal from the 2023 season onwards.

Since then, Vowles has helped Williams grow from strength to strength, with the team currently on course for their first top-half constructors' championship finish since 2017.

That has followed a period of great stability in 2023 and 2024, before Vowles managed to convince four-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz to take a gamble and sign with his team.

It puts Williams in a strong position heading into wholesale regulation changes in 2026, which may just see a shake up in the competitive order of the sport, potentially allowing for Vowles' team to make gains on their competitors.

Now, the 46-year-old has reflected on his decision to leave Mercedes, revealing some advice that former boss Wolff gave him before he headed to Williams.

"It got to a point where I had to make a decision for my life, not for Mercedes' life," Vowles told the High Performance podcast. "And that decision came when I very swiftly realised that actually I think the growth opportunities I have, the growth learning I have, I enjoyed learning tremendously and that was slowing down in Mercedes. I can go into a completely different level by going elsewhere, and so I had honest conversations with Toto across that year period. It wasn't a big surprise to him in the winter.

"And it's why also he was accepting of the fact that he let me move on. He wanted me to move on as well as a result of it."

Asked if Wolff gave him a particular piece of advice going into the role as team principal at Williams, Vowles responded: "I think he said 'don't be s**t' was his advice which I'm trying to do!

"No, other than that, he knows that I've been forming for this for quite a while so there was little he could provide me above it."

Mercedes' waning F1 performance

While it can't all be attributed to Vowles, since the Brit left, Mercedes have only managed to win five races across three seasons, and have been nowhere near championship contention.

Just as 2026 represents an opportunity for Williams, it also does for Mercedes, with the team rumoured to be in the best shape to make gains on their rivals when the new regulations role in.

Those rumours have also led to speculation that the team could sign four-time world champion Max Verstappen in the future, too, which would make them a formidable force for years to come.

In 2025, however, Vowles and Wolff's drivers in Alex Albon and Kimi Antonelli are currently jostling for position in the drivers' championship, with seventh spot up for grabs after Antonelli's drop off in form in recent weeks.

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