Toto Wolff was once kicked out of school as a teenager (Image: Getty)
was kicked out of school along with his sister as a teenager after his parents were unable to pay the fees for the private school he attended in Austria. Over three decades later, the 52-year-old now has eight Constructors’ Championship titles to his name.
Wolff spearheaded ’ dominance in the turbo hybrid era after starting out his F1 journey with Williams. He now has the Silver Arrows’ success and a combined seven Drivers’ Championship titles for Nico Rosberg and to show for his efforts, but the Austrian faced plenty of hardship during his childhood.
Discussing the incident on the High Performance Podcast, he said: “For me, the worst of all situations was that I was a poor kid in an environment where there was wealth. I was going to a private school, which we couldn’t afford.
“So there was an instance where my sister and I were called out of class to the headmaster in the early afternoon, and he told us you have to leave the school – the fees are not paid. So I had to go back into class, to the delight of my friends that were really happy for me and saying: ‘You’re so lucky you can leave the school’.
“But I took my schoolbag, met my sister, who was 10, basically in the lobby to take the tram home for 45 minutes and explain to her why we were going home and not finishing the day.”
Wolff believes that the incident, combined with his father’s poor health, played a significant role in instilling the values and determination that led him on a path to financial prosperity and success in the world of F1. The Austrian’s father was diagnosed with brain cancer when his son was just eight years old and later passed away when Wolff turned 15.
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Toto Wolff has enjoyed immense success as Mercedes team principal (Image: Getty)
He continued: “And so this financial hardship plus the family situation created a drive in me to be self-responsible, become an adult really quickly, look after my family financially and emotionally, different to what I had.
“So definitely I wouldn’t be here if that wouldn’t have happened, if I wouldn’t have felt that degree of inadequacy in front of my friends and environment.” Asked if he still suffers from those feelings, Wolff continued: “No, I think I’m getting over it slowly but surely.
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“I didn’t kind of trust the success that I had in my twenties, thirties [and] forties. I always stared into an abyss. ‘Tomorrow could be the end of everything. Tomorrow you start losing. Tomorrow I could l be losing my money, my marriage could be over, somebody could fall ill.’
“And that’s why I have to keep going… I have to keep going… I have to keep going. And that has gotten a little bit better now after I became 50 because one thing is now clear – I am already over half of my time. I hope so, in any case! So I’ve gone through the worst, hopefully.”