F1 News: Toto Wolff "Lost His Marbles" After 2021 Abu Dhabi Loss

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 world champion, remarked that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has "lost his marbles" after observing the team's decline in performance in the past few seasons, particularly after losing the Championship battle to Red Bull during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes clinched eight consecutive Constructors' Championships. However, with the introduction of new regulations in advance of the 2022 season, Red Bull was ahead of the curve in the era of the updated rules as it established its dominance in the subsequent period.

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Since then, the Milton Keynes outfit went on to win an outstanding 38 out of 44 F1 races and achieve consecutive world championship doubles with their star driver Max Verstappen.

Meanwhile, Mercedes managed to only win a single race in the same period when George Russell won the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, leaving the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton without a win for two years.

Team principal Toto Wolff described the team's performance as the "worst in 13 years after the Brazilian Grand Prix this season, as the team suffered miserably due to a lack of grip and pace from the W14 F1 car. Hamilton, on the other hand, mentioned toward the end of the 2023 season that he was looking forward to getting rid of the current car.

Clearly, the Brackley outfit hasn't come to grips with its car and Villeneuve has remarked on the challenges of transitioning from being the top contender to facing struggles for victories. He told Planet F1:

"I think it was tough two years ago when they lost the championship.

“Then he lost his marbles a little bit, the whole situation, because the team was not used to not winning.

“It was just cold water. Even a lot of the mechanics of the team, they were not used to it and not all of them could actually live with that.

“But he’s recovered really well. The team has been going in the right direction. Progress has been fair this year, although not as impressive as McLaren."

While bouncing back from a challenging 2023 season, the team is now pinning all its hopes on the W15 F1 car for the upcoming year, with reports indicating that its development is ongoing in full swing.