There’s a whiff of football on the high winds at Interlagos. And it’s not just Adriano, the football icon, donning his iconic Inter Milan shirt in the Ferrari garage.
Toto Wolff, now a billionaire as one-third Mercedes team owner, has revealed his cards for a new potential venture that may bridge his high-speed expertise with the fervor of football. At the Brazilian GP, Wolff admitted to contemplating a stake in Manchester United, the English football team that’s as much a global institution as Formula 1 itself.
“Jim has shared the trajectory with me,” he admits, painting a picture of shared plans and mutual confidence in the much-richer Sir Jim Ratcliffe – another one-third owner of the Mercedes team via team chemicals sponsor Ineos. “I very much respect his values and we trust each other,” said Wolff. “If we felt it would make sense to be part of the investment group then I would certainly look at it.”
The financial prowess of Wolff is well-documented, with Forbes putting his net worth at an impressive $1.6 billion, a testament to his astute investments in earlier high-value propositions like the Mercedes-linked HWA and the Williams F1 team. Yet, his interests go beyond the mere accumulation of assets. “I have never aimed for trophy investments,” he insists. “I like the competitiveness of the Premier League.”
However, Wolff’s firm gaze remains unwaveringly fixed on F1. “The motivation to catch up with Red Bull is enormous,” he told De Telegraaf. “We don’t want to wait for rule changes or for the new era from 2026.”
But Wolff knows the task ahead is gargantuan, but the bright side now trickling in is that Mercedes may now be on the right track. “You can see with McLaren that they have gained almost a second in laptime with a new package,” he acknowledges. But the optimism is laced with a touch of humor as he concludes, “I’d rather do that than lobby for rule changes. So we haven’t done that. For now.”
