F1 chief studied Man Utd's failures to build team
FT Desk
- 16 Aug 2022 21:30 BST
- 3 min read
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that he studied where Manchester United went wrong to whip his Formula One crew into shape.
Wolff has presided over a golden age with Mercedes, winning eight consecutive constructors titles.
The Austrian has been in charge since 2014 and oversaw the end of almost seven decades without a crown when Lewis Hamilton prevailed, the first of seven drivers' wins between the Briton and Nico Forsberg.
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United, meanwhile, have plummeted over the same time-frame, losing their privileged position at the top of the Premier League that was almost a given under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Red Devils have not won a single league title since Ferguson left in 2013 and Wolff admits that they have been a glowing example of how not to run a major sporting institution.
How United inspired Wolff
“I studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs],” he told the Financial Times, referring to the end of Ferguson's United dynasty.
“No sports team in any sport has ever won eight consecutive World Championship titles and there are many reasons for that, and what is at the core is the human.
“The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious.
“I often get the question: ‘How hard is that?’
“I had so many periods, so many episodes in my life that I would judge as difficult, that this is not on the same scale.
“I don’t think it’s challenging in a way because I’ve had much harder times in all of my life, not particularly in Formula 1, but this is actually within my comfort zone.”
Read more about: Premier League, Man Utd
