Szafnauer ‘can’t see’ Wolff buying Aston F1 stake

Mark Scott
Mercedes Toto Wolff pa

Mercedes Toto Wolff pa

Toto Wolff’s personal investment into Aston Martin will not lead to acquiring a stake in the reformed Formula 1 team, according to team boss Otmar Szafnauer.

Wolff fired up the rumour mill again when he purchased a small stake in the British luxury carmaker after close friend Lawrence Stroll became chairman of Aston Martin via substantial investment with his consortium.

Wolff’s market move was seen as a clear sign that he was gearing up to join Aston Martin when they return as a Formula 1 works team in 2021.

But Wolff has labelled those reports “total bullsh*t” and Szafnauer, too, thinks his involvement with the car company will not have a crossover into Formula 1.

“I can’t see him having a stake in our [F1] team, for example,” Szafnauer told Sky F1.

“The road car company, having shares in that, is completely different than having shares in a loss making Formula 1 team.

“I haven’t spoken to him in six or seven weeks, since Melbourne

“I’ve seen him on a couple of these Zoom calls but I haven’t asked him that question.

“Knowing Toto like I do, I think he’s absolutely right. It was a good time to buy if you look at the share price and the trend.

“Toto’s pretty smart at that stuff he’s made a bit of money doing these sorts of things, and I think he’s absolutely right, a good time to buy.”

Wolff is not doing everything he can, though, to quieten the Mercedes exit rumours. In a recent interview, he did suggest he could miss more race weekends in 2020 to focus on other projects.

He was absent for the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, missing his first Formula 1 race since 2013.

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