Toto Wolff drove the iconic Mercedes W 196, that Juan Manuel Fangio drove to victory. It is the car that made the legendary driver a two-time world championin the mid-1950s.
Toto Wolff drove the car that made Juan Manuel Fangio a world champion in 1954 and 1955. The head of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport division took the automobile for a spin at Silverstone. The Mercedes W 196 is the car that Mercedes sent to the race track once the company decided to return to motor racing 65 years ago, for the first time after the World War II.
“It is impressive how high-tech this car was back then compared to the modern car”, Toto says. “It drives so well, it drives like a real racing car.”
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Wolff sees a parallel between the 1950s racing and that of the current times, as Mercedes dominates both eras on the circuit. Last year, Mercedes won its fifth consecutive double world championship, equaling the all-time record set by Ferrari between 2000 and 2004. Only Wolff and the current FIA President, Jean Todt, won five double world championships.
“Driving that car is an unbelievable opportunity, it is one of the most iconic racing cars in the world, probably the most important Mercedes racing car. Driving the W 196 around Silverstone was an unbelievable moment”, says the executive who is under contract with Mercedes until 2020.
Toto Wolff arrived in Formula 1 in 2009 and moved to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team in 2013 as an executive director. Since then, not a single year passed without the team winning the Constructors’ Championship Title in Formula 1.
