Torger Christian Wolff, known professionally as Toto. Manager , driver, executive director of Mercedes AMG F.1, and a polyglot: he speaks German, of course, being Austrian, and has a passion for Italian culture and Italian cuisine; he began his racing career in GT behind the wheel of Porsches for the Redolfi team in Pedrengo, Bergamo. This is how he came to know Italian and the Bergamo dialect, as well as Polish, French, Spanish, and, of course, English.
When you consider that a French manager, Fred Vasseur, has been at Ferrari for nearly five years and doesn’t speak a word of Italian, the linguistic—as well as the sporting—comparison clearly favors Wolff. The two are very different in their approaches to managing racing, interpersonal relationships, and business. Yet they get along well—so much so that Vasseur even served as best man at Toto Wolff’s wedding. Friends for over 25 years, their rift finally came to a head in early 2025, when Vasseur called Wolff to tell him he’d signed Hamilton to Ferrari. At that moment, perhaps, Toto Wolff reminded him that at the wedding reception, after a few too many drinks, Vasseur had eaten a plastic flower, convinced it was a garnish on the wedding cake. In other words, maybe it was a joke fueled by alcohol. But it was actually true.
With a net worth of over $2.7 billion (Forbes 2026 ranking), Toto Wolff embodies the story of a self-made man who overcame life’s adversities. Orphaned as a boy, he had to roll up his sleeves and do whatever it took to survive. His passion for racing led him to compete in the Grand Prix with Porsche, and that’s where another incredible adventure began with the cars of Orlando Redolfi’s team.
As everyone knows, in the Bergamo area, winters are cold, damp, and rainy. There’s only one way to cope with such weather: a nice glass of grappa to chase the cold from your soul. Apparently, the method worked in another way as well.“I remember I couldn’t improve my lap times,” Toto told us, sitting on the sofa in the motorhome as he recalled those days.“Orlando came over and said, ‘Take off your helmet,’ and then, in the Bergamo dialect: ‘Bif che ta tiret giò u second’—‘Drink this, and you’ll shave a second off your lap time.’ It was a big glass of straight grappa; I don’t remember if I actually did it, but certainly every time I’m in Italy or Bergamo, Orlando brings me a bottle of that grappa.”
He did the same thing a couple of years ago when we ran into him in the Mercedes motorhome during a press conference with the technical staff. Tucked away in a corner, Orlando with the bottle of grappa, Toto on the sofa discussing the events in the Bergamo dialect.
As a failed race car driver, Wolff realized something important: in motorsports, without money, you won’t get anywhere. He took a gamble, bought shares in Williams F1, which he later sold at a substantial profit, eventually taking the reins of the Mercedes AMG F1 team. Not as team principal, not as an employee, but as a co-owner of the team—something very few have managed to do.
Today, withKimi Antonelli’s World Championship win,Toto Wolff has won yet another bet. He’s proven that by taking a kid from karting all the way to the F1 World Championship—showing he has a nose for talent, a sharp mind, and that willingness to take the necessary risks—he does so with good reason.“I’m Wolf, and I solve problems”was a famous line from Quentin Tarantino’s film *Pulp Fiction*. Coming from Harvey Keitel, it had one meaning; coming from Toto (Wolff, with the double “F” at the end of his last name), it now takes on a different one. Mr. F1: six world championships withLewis Hamilton, one withNico Rosberg, one withKimi Antonelli,plus eight additional Constructors’ Championships—all under the Mercedes AMG F1 banner—for a total of sixteen world titles.
From would-be driver to successful manager, married to Susy Stoddart—a former driver herself—he moves about Monte Carlo, where he lives, with such serenity and calm that if you run into him at the supermarket—managers eat every day, too—he’ll greet you, joke around, and act like a normal person just like everyone else, even though he isn’t. He isthe true top manager of F1, with vision, passion, and intuition. A man like him has only one flaw: not being dressed in red and commanding the local troops at Maranello. He certainly would have learned the Romagna dialect as well…
