Toro Wolff reveals "imposter syndrome" as a key to Mercedes F1 success

Mercedes

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Wolff reveals "imposter syndrome" as a key to Mercedes F1 success

Team is aiming for its eighth consecutive titles

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 6 October 2021 08:00

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has listed a number of factors that have been key to his organisation's unprecedented run of success in F1 over the years, including what he has described as "an imposter syndrome".

The German manufacturer has its sights set on its eighth consecutive constructors' and drivers' titles this year as it has dominated the turbo-hybrid era since the systems were introduced in 2014.

Mercedes is currently 30 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors' standings going into this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton only two ahead of Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship.

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Wolff believes there are certain traits within his team, spread across the factory at Brackley and at High Performance Powertrains at Brixworth, that have played their role in his team's supremacy.

"The most important is to stay humble and be able to really have a mindset of being able to criticise yourself," said Wolff, speaking at confirmation of Mercedes' involvement in INEOS Britannia's latest America's Cup bid.

"When you listen to one of our debriefs on a Monday morning after a race we have been lucky enough to win, it doesn't sound like a team that has won.

"We are always sceptical about our own achievement, and we all suffer in a way from an imposter syndrome - that people must have been really good in this team to have made us win because I don't really know what my contribution was.

"That goes all through the organisation. Everybody feels that, even the most highly skilled engineers.

"That keeps us grounded. Every year we see ourselves, not as the one to beat but in a way there is this challenger mentality.

"We set expectations in the right way and we feel zero sense of entitlement."