Sports · Motorsport · 4 hrs ago
Toto Wolff says Mercedes CEO refused his resignation offers
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says he offered to resign several times during the team's difficult seasons.
The Austrian said CEO Ola Källenius refused to let him leave and told him to carry on.
Mercedes struggled after Formula 1 introduced ground-effect regulations in 2022, which changed how the cars were designed.
The team has since returned to the top by winning the 2026 constructors' title in Brazil.
That recovery eases the pressure on Wolff to step aside, and he said he plans to stay.
Wolff is also a shareholder, with a reported 28 percent stake in the team.
He is considering possible successors for the day-to-day role, but there is no sign he will leave soon.
Toto Wolff said he offered to resign as Mercedes team principal several times in recent years.
Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius refused the offers and told Wolff to continue in the role.
Wolff disclosed this at the 2026 Golden Steering Wheel awards in Berlin.
He said he would remain in the job, joking that Källenius was making him stay.
Mercedes won the 2026 constructors' championship in Brazil after difficult seasons in the ground-effect era.
- Who
- Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, said he offered to resign. Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius refused.
- What
- Wolff said he had offered his resignation several times in recent years, but Källenius told him to continue.
- When
- Wolff made the remarks at the 2026 Golden Steering Wheel awards. The offers were made several times in recent years.
- Where
- Wolff spoke at the awards in Berlin.
- Why
- Wolff said he was prepared to step aside amid Mercedes’ struggles in recent years.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Wolff took charge of Mercedes.
Ground-effect regulations were introduced, after which Mercedes struggled to challenge consistently for race victories and championship honours.
Mercedes won the constructors' championship in Brazil.
Wolff said in Berlin that he had offered to resign several times and that Källenius had refused.
- Resignation offers
- Several times in recent years
- Mercedes CEO
- Ola Källenius
- Awards venue
- Berlin
- 2026 constructors' title
- Mercedes won in Brazil
- Wolff's Mercedes ownership stake
- 28 percent
3 sources
What people are saying
I’ve offered Ola [Källenius] my resignation several times over the past few years, but he’s always said: ‘You’ll keep doing this,’
Yes. Ola forces me to.
I have offered him my resignation several times in recent years, but he has always said: 'You carry on doing it.'