Toto Wolff names Mercedes replacement after Silver Arrows boss’ retirement hint

Toto Wolff has revealed that Jerome D’Ambrosio will be the man to replace him as Mercedes team principal, should he be unable to make it to any races this season. The Belgian ex-F1 driver was brought in as the team’s new driver development director for 2023 and beyond. 

D’Ambrosio spent one season in F1 back in 2011, driving for the backmarker Marussia team before completing a single race for Lotus during the 2012 Italian Grand Prix. That proved to be the end of his time as a driver in the series. 

However, over ten years later the 37-year-old made his return to the paddock, joining the Mercedes set-up after testing the waters in different management roles for Formula E team ROKiT Venturi Racing. 

The Belgian stepped into the deputy team principal role with the team for the 2020 season after announcing his retirement from driving at the end of the previous campaign. D’Ambrosio went on to step up to the senior management role in 2021, leading the team through a historic campaign. 

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Speaking to Auto Hebdo about his role within the team, Wolff explained: “When I am absent on a race weekend, Jérome will replace me. It is true that in 11 years it has only happened three times, but it is a situation that we have to anticipate. Now, he has to gain credibility within the team and in the paddock, he still has time, but in case I can’t be there, he will be in my place.”

With D’Ambrosio earmarked as Wolff’s replacement in the event of non-attendance, questions have once again been asked about the Austrian businessman’s long-term commitment to the team. However, Toto remains convinced that his involvement with the team will continue for the foreseeable future.

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Addressing his retirement, Wolff continued: “My plan in a way was that when I’m 49, I’m going to stop doing this. Because as a 50-year-old, you’re grown up, you’re not being team manager any more.

“But what changed then is what was [previously] the project: buy the shares, and sell the shares, like investments in our finance industry. In 2020, I came to the conclusion to say: ‘I’m going to keep this’. For the first time in my life, I changed my business strategy from an investment guy who buys, develops, and sells, to buy, develop, keep. It was a big change.

“It took me one year to digest that, that I don’t want to go back into the [financial] industry where I have been doing that 25 years. But actually, I wanted to become a real entrepreneur and keep this forever. That was the moment to keep on.”

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