Toto Wolff’s eye-opening ‘not selfish’ theory on the greatest F1 drivers

Toto Wolff believes that the most elite F1 drivers all possess a similar personality trait, in that none lean into their selfishness.

The argument about who the greatest F1 driver ever may be is one that will never be settled, but Toto Wolff has pointed out key characteristics he believes all the candidates for such an accolade share.

Toto Wolff: The best F1 drivers aren’t selfish

Obvious names to be considered as the Greatest of All Time (GOATs) include the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Michael Schumacher, while two contemporary contenders include Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

While all have very different personalities, a common characteristic could be said to be steeliness, a determination, and an unwavering self-confidence in their own abilities.

During last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours, 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button stated his belief that F1 drivers are inherently selfish, and Mercedes‘ team boss Toto Wolff was asked whether he agreed with this assessment.

Having overseen six of Hamilton’s Drivers’ Championship titles, Wolff has been part of the story of the creation of one of F1’s GOATs and, as a manager, Wolff said what he’s learned from his time as an F1 team boss is that the very best drivers are, against expectation, lacking in selfishness.

But, to make it as a driver in the first place, these personalities must cling to selfishness on their rise into a team environment; it’s a balancing act of looking out for themselves and individual glory, whilst also being part of a team.

“You cannot expect a Formula 1 driver to be a lion in the car and a puppy outside,” he said.

“These guys are traumatised little six-year-olds, because they’ve been put in a go-kart as, basically, toddlers. That’s scary.

“You’re being told, ‘Drive fast. These karts go 100 kilometres an hour, it’s raining, you have accidents, and you need to rely on yourself.

“You find out that you are alone in this go-kart, and you just need to survive, and only the best do. Many kids eventually drop out because of fear, pressure, or lack of talent. If you make it in Formula 1, you know that you can only rely on yourself.

“You need to be selfish. You need to beat your teammate. So that is a key ingredient. But here’s the caveat: I believe that the best ones also have social intelligence, emotional intelligence. They know how to manoeuvre a paddock.

“They are career-focused and driven, but they are not selfish, because they understand that, in order to be successful in Formula 1, you need to have good people around you.

“Whether it’s in the team, in your management, you need to look at it from a long-term perspective. The short-term optimisation will not make you the most successful driver.

“We’ve seen it in the past, people missed out on great careers because they were acting arrogantly or selfish, optimising every single opportunity rather than being a team player.

“Lewis Hamilton is a fantastic team player, and he’s been the most successful of all time. Michael Schumacher was able to assemble the team around him and was hugely successful.

“So you see that with the best. Talent, ambition, but also consciousness that it doesn’t all revolve around yourself. There are other people that are part of your success.”

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Toto Wolff: F1 drivers aren’t treated differently from the rest of the team

During Hamilton’s incredible run of titles through the 2010s, he faced off against Nico Rosberg for three consecutive seasons between 2014 and ’16. In 2016, their rivalry took on a new level of intensity that resulted in a few flashpoint moments; this included a catastrophic first-lap collision between the pair at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Wolff was furious with both drivers, with the late Niki Lauda later revealing that both, despite their successes and talents, had risked being fired by Wolff if they hadn’t taken the right attitude in response.

Selfishness, the Austrian explained, has no place at Mercedes, or under his watch.

“How I’ve been managing this, from the first day that I’ve been in Formula 1, is that I make no difference between the two drivers and the rest of the company,” Wolff said.

“I’ve been telling them that there are 2500 superstars in this team, whether they work in the machine shop, cleaning, in aerodynamics or driving the car, I’m not going to treat you any different than any of the other people.

“If you are selfish and you put our joint success at risk, or you damage our brand, then I’m gonna be ruthless about it. You have no part in this team.

“That philosophy worked because our drivers have understood, they respect that, they care that everybody is part of the success, and they realise that, for example, when they crash into each other, people can’t pay their mortgages because they don’t earn their bonus.”

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