Toto Wolff never intended for 'leaked' 1000-word Mercedes email to go public

Toto Wolff has insisted he did not intend for one of his emails to be 'leaked' and made public, and that it was deputy team principal Bradley Lord's idea.

Wolff has masterminded further success for Mercedes this season, with the team winning their ninth constructors' championship in Sao Paulo on Sunday, having already wrapped up the drivers' title with Kimi Antonelli a week earlier.

Following Antonelli's celebrations in Mexico City, Wolff sent a 1000-plus-word email to all Mercedes F1 employees, but later, it was shared with the entire world by deputy team principal Lord.

"I’m no frequent LinkedIn poster but from time to time, something comes along that shows exactly why we are so lucky to work at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team," Lord wrote on LinkedIn in a post that shared screenshots of the email. "Sharing internal emails is not the done thing at our place, so I hope I’ll be forgiven by the IT and HR powers-that-be for taking the initiative on this occasion…"

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What did Toto Wolff's leaked Mercedes email say?

Given the length of the email, Wolff's message touched on several topics, with the key theme being Antonelli's championship success and his journey up to that moment.

Wolff credited his team but also Antonelli's parents, and also gave credit to teammate George Russell.

"You cannot ask a young driver to learn and then punish him for making mistakes," Wolff wrote in one part. "The important thing was never where Kimi stood after one difficult race, but where he could be in the years to come. And one of the reasons we could take that leap was George.

"This wasn’t George’s year. He and the car weren’t always the best of friends, and I know how frustrating that has been for him. But we could only take the risk of putting Kimi in the car because we knew we already had a champion and a number one driver in George.

"Someone with the speed, experience and leadership to carry the team, and the strength of character to embrace a young teammate with enormous potential. That gave us the confidence to make a bold decision."

Wolff's email concluded: "This is not my success story, it is ours. And I couldn't be prouder of everyone who has been a part of it."

Wolff reveals story behind Mercedes leak

Speaking at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Wolff revealed that he never wrote the message with the intention of it being seen by anybody outside of Mercedes, and that it was his deputy team principal who decided it was a good idea to put it out there.

Wolff also opened up on what encouraged him to send the message in the first place.

"It was 1000 words. I was surprised. The last time I wrote that was under severe pressure in school," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"So why I did it was spontaneous, because I got so much praise on that Sunday night about giving him [Antonelli] the opportunity, and in Italy, and it's something that makes you very proud. But I felt I needed to give credit to all the people that maybe weren't so much in the spotlight.

"And this email didn't even give it justice because there are many more that were part of the decision-making process and getting him to where he was, and that's why I felt like I need to at least express my gratitude to the big team.

"Then Bradley [Lord] felt that was a more clever email than normally, so he put it on LinkedIn and that is when it was spread."

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