16/09/2023
NEWS STORY
Toto Wolff has explained the comment he made at Monza which appeared to dismiss Max Verstappen's achievement in scoring a record tenth successive victory.
In winning the Italian Grand Prix, the Dutchman beat the record previously held by fellow Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.
However, speaking in the moments after a race in which his own drivers had finished fifth and sixth, Wolff appeared to give no credence to the achievement.
"Those numbers are for Wikipedia," said the Austrian, "and nobody reads that anyway."
Speaking in Singapore, Wolff sought to explain the comment which, to many, only served to make him appear a bad loser.
"Obviously when you look at the comment in the circumstance you can think: ‘Was it the most intelligent thing I could've said?' Maybe not," he told reporters.
"It's always been my mind-set, it's something I've taken from Niki, Niki gave his trophies away to get a free car wash," he added, referring to friend, three-time world champion and former non-executive director of the Mercedes team, Niki Lauda.
"You won't find a lot of memorabilia in my place either because those numbers never mattered for the two of us," Wolff continued. "Formula 1 is a meritocracy and I said it often during this year that only the best win world championships and you need to recognise what a great job is being done there.
"At the end, they will take another big trophy and that is something that is the most valuable. The best person in the best car wins the world championship."
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