Ryan Miller’s Reviews > Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane > Status Update

Toto: “ I want to look back when I’m 80 and say to myself that I was successful in my own benchmarking. There is no sports team in the world that has won every single championship they entered on a sustainable basis. We’ve won 8 of the last 10 championships and then finished 3rd and 2nd. That’s not a failure. This is Formula 1.”

Unlike NFL, NBA, or Premier Leafue, the players on this field aren’t exclusively responsible for the fina result. The majority are in positions being the scenes and number in the thousands - for Mercedes F1 to excel, every member if the race team & workforce back at factories in Brackley & Brixworth must work as one - performance begins with the people

Toto wants to build a tribe - a group of individuals on the same journey sharing the same values & objectives - everyone aligned

He wants to create a space where no one feels inadequate or humiliated

Merceds buys Brawn in 2010 and consults w/ Toto after 2012 - he wants Williams to finish 5th in Constructors but Mercedes wants to win - he tells the their budget is too low amongst other things

When he presents, they him an offer he can’t refuse to come run the team himself & be part owner with Mercedes-Benz & Niki Lauda (who 2yrs post death sells shares back to MB who then partners w/ INEOS)

Joins in 2013

Toto is born in 1972 Austria to a Polish nurse anesthetist mom and Romanian dad who runs a transport business

Dad gets sick with cancer in 1980, struggles for 10yrs - they can’t pay bills and get kicked out of fancy school - becomes determined to be successful

Races in early 1990s and then gets successful in finance - has a career ending wreck in 2009 & becomes 15% owner in Williams F1, wins last race in 2012

Hamilton is P2 in Austin, but gets disqualified for running too low (plank wear) - car is working better after upgrade