Wolff defends Marchionne against Ferrari failings

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has defended the management style of Ferrari's Sergio Marchionne who has been accused of not defending his drivers enough and being too aggressive, but did go on to say that the Silver Arrows like to manage things differently.

Wolff's team and Ferrari are currently the two biggest teams in Formula One and have contested the last few constructor's championship, but the relationship between him and Marchionne has always been respectful.

The Prancing Horse are by far the most successful team in the history of the sport, but are currently going through a period with title success as they have not claimed the big prize in a decade.

In an attempt to catalyse better performances from his drivers, Marchionne has not held back in his criticism. He has called Kimi Raikkonen a 'laggard' in the past and lamented Sebastian Vettel's performances in a 'great car', and although this method may or may not be everyone's cup of tea, Wolff has praised the Italian-Canadian as a successful businessman.

“Pressure can make a diamond, but pressure can also make a pipe burst,” he told Autosport.

“Sergio Marchionne is one of the most successful businessmen that I have ever met, and somebody that has one of the sharpest minds I have ever seen operating.

“So far it [Ferrari’s style] works for him and I don’t think you can reduce Ferrari’s 2017 season, or the end of the 2017 season campaign, to pressure that was applied.

[bijlage1]

“I think this is oversimplification.”

Even though Wolff clearly has respect for Marchionne and Ferrari, he insists that Mercedes deal with things in a different manner.

“We encourage everybody in the organisation to speak up,” the Silver Arrows boss continued.

“We have a motto that is ‘see it, say it, fix it’ which means that you have to create a safe environment for everybody to speak up.

“You need to be able to improve as a part of the team. What we try to do from the very senior leadership is to blame the problem and not the individual.

“It is easy to say ‘well, that is what we do’. As a matter of fact it is in human nature to try to identify a guilty person, it is easy because it is a pressure release – his fault.

“We’re working really hard on not doing that because the moment you do that people close up like a shell and you won’t see any innovation, you won’t see any risk-taking.

“This is what we want – we are in a risk-taking business, an innovation business.”