Toto Wolff's stance on leaving Mercedes as he opens up on desire to quit F1

Toto Wolff has revealed that he is not thinking about leaving Mercedes despite being ready to quit F1 a few years back. He joined the Silver Arrows in 2013 and has led them to unprecedented success, winning the Constructors' Championship in eight consecutive years. In addition, he oversaw Lewis Hamilton claiming six of his seven Drivers' Championship titles.

Wolff also has a 33 per cent stake in the company, sharing joint ownership with Mercedes-Benz Group AG and petrochemicals firm INEOS. However, he nearly walked away from the team in 2020 as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the F1 calendar. It gave him plenty of time to consider if he still wanted to lead Mercedes or hand over the reins to somebody else.

Speaking to motorsport-total, Wolff revealed: "In 2020, I really wanted to retire. My original plan was that I wouldn't mess around with race cars anymore when I was 50, because by then I'd become an adult.

"But then I came to the conclusion that that's my niche, racing and the business side of it. At some point, I said to myself: 'Okay, this is my niche, I'm going to continue doing this'.

"And I'm going to forget everything I did before, because I also enjoyed venture capital. I made that decision for myself in 2020."

Asked if he was still having doubts about staying at Mercedes, Wolff insisted that he was fully committed to the project for the foreseeable future.

"I'm enjoying it at the moment, I want to continue," he added. "At least until the team starts winning again, I still see myself as the executive team boss.

"Especially since I'm in the privileged position of having to fire myself. Once I'm no longer the team boss, I can be CEO or chairman, or move to the supervisory board, in agreement with the other shareholders."

It comes after Wolff boldly stated that Hamilton's time at Ferrari will be forgotten when he brings his career to an end. The veteran Brit has endured a difficult year with the Italian outfit, having left Mercedes after deciding not to extend his contract.

Wolff recently insisted that Hamilton's legacy was safe, regardless of how the remainder of his career with Ferrari pans out.

"He is going to retire [and] nobody is going to ever know that he was at Ferrari at the end," he said. "Who thinks about the [Michael] Schumacher and Mercedes time? That is not relevant for Schumacher's career."