'Absolute horror': Toto Wolff endured family tragedy at 15, what it taught him

Toto Wolff

'Absolute horror': Toto Wolff endured family tragedy at 15, what it taught him

Something nobody should have to go through

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Monday 31 August 2026 10:55

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has opened up on the 'absolute horror' of the year he turned 15 years old as family tragedy shaped the person he is today.

The now 54-year-old Austrian businessman's father passed away when his son was just a teenager, following a long battle with brain cancer. Wolf admits that he felt 'alone' at the time, calling it 'a year that I don't wish for anyone to have'.

Toto told the SAP podcast about how the experience changed him in an episode which aired this week, admitting that his early desire for financial independence still drives him today.

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The Mercedes boss is now worth somewhere upward of $2bn, thanks in large part to the 28 per cent stake in the team that he holds - with the team increasing in value around 35-fold since he purchased his stake back in 2013.

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Wolff opens up on father's early passing

Asked to look back reflect on his 15-year-old self, Wolff said: "Absolute horror. There wasn't anything good when I was that age. A relationship to a father who was ill for more than five years, six years, he died of brain cancer."

Wolff has spoken in the past about his father's personality changing after he became ill, and said on the podcast: "Him passing, having ambivalent feelings also was very, very difficult. I felt alone, I don't think that I really had a great group of friends back in the day, it's a traumatising year for me.

"Now I see it maybe shaped me into what I am, and it taught me that hardship over the long term can toughen you up and that's important in your life, but that wasn't a year that I want to...you know. A year that I don't wish for anyone to have."

'Motivated to look after the people around me'

On how that tough period changed him, and possibly strengthened him, he added: "It happened earlier, because he was ill for many years, that I had to rely on myself. I had to take decisions nobody else would do.

"It taught me that I wanted to earn my own money, I didn't want to be dependant on an adult anymore because I couldn't rely on the adults. Obviously at 15, that became more of a fact.

"The toughness that you learn is to emotionally cope with trauma, it's driven me to try to be financially independent, and that's still very much motivating me and energising me to make sure that the ones around me have a secure life, my family, my group of employees, looking after all of the people here at Brackley.