WHEN: Today, Friday, February 2, 2024
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Principal & CEO Toto Wolff on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” (M-F,9AM-11AM ET) today, Friday, February 2 to discuss the news of Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season, the business of F1, the driver and team dynamic, and more. Following is a link to video on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/02/02/lewis-decision-to-leave-mercedes-for-ferrari-didnt-come-out-of-nowhere-says-mercedes-wolff.html
SARA EISEN: Some pretty big news out of Formula 1 yesterday. Mercedes long-time driver Lewis Hamilton announcing he will join team Ferrari in 2025 in a multiyear deal, shaking up Mercedes team. Toto Wolff, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal and CEO joins us now. First of all, Toto, thank you for joining us and taking the time. It’s good to see you.
TOTO WOLFF: Good to see you, Sara, thank you.
EISEN: So this was obviously huge news and came as a pretty big shock to a lot of people. What happened?
WOLFF: So last year when we signed a new deal, we wanted to keep it short to see what the future will hold. And that was an agreement we had with Lewis. We knew that this would eventually end maybe two years down the line, but we knew there was the option for a one year deal. And insofar the timing was a bit of a surprise, but the decision in itself didn’t come out of nowhere.
EISEN: Yeah, timing you mentioned and was a surprise. I wonder what it’s going to mean for this current season, which kicks off soon, Lewis will still be driving for you. Is it going to be awkward for the team?
WOLFF: So I think eventually a racing driver’s career ends and I believe that for Lewis he wanted some change, and he wanted to do something, to try something new. But the team has managed a situation like this before, we’ve had that change in driver lineups. And we have a full year to go I’m going to give it everything now. Of course, you know, on one side, you’re saying we were pushing flat out and we want to have success this year with both of are drivers but then we need to look into 2026 and 2025 and 26 and that’s going to play in our mind.
EISEN: Toto you teach a Harvard business school class and there have been case studies written about Mercedes, you’re CEO, you’re a part owner. What steps do you take now to manage the organization?
WOLFF: I think it’s important to remember that we’re the Mercedes Formula One team. We’ve had a sensational spell that has not been done before with Lewis, more than 10 years, we’ve won more championships and more races than anybody, anybody else. And now it’s about to identify what’s going to be the next step beyond 2024. What is the dream lineup that we can put together in order to continue the success into a new generation of drivers and for the next 10 years to come? And as a part of the team, that is my perspective, I want to look back in five and 10 years and say, things came to a natural end and going forward into the right decisions and the team performed well and eventually this is all what matters. We got to just be in a position to win races and fight for championship and that’s 100% what we have.
EISEN: You do have tremendous brand partners, Marriott among them. It’s something I focused on pretty significantly in our documentary on the business of Formula One, those sponsors those partners. What are you saying to them about what the future of Mercedes looks like without Lewis Hamilton?
WOLFF: I think Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes is basically the same story because we’ve been together for 12 years. But the team – we continue to be the same shareholders, I continue to run it. We have a very exciting – George Russell who was basically going toe to toe with Lewis last year. So you know, you just got to adapt. Our sport is about adaptability, like in any other business, and that’s something that’s the lessons that I’ve tried to pass over when talking about high performance and management under pressure.
EISEN: Do you think this will impact the business of the Mercedes team, whether it sponsors, merch sales? Anything else? Lewis was a juggernaut.
WOLFF: Absolutely, Lewis stands for much more than just a racing driver. And he’s a global phenomenon. And it’s clear that at first sight, when you look at it, you’re going to miss a bit after 24. You’re going to miss that part. But the Formula One team like Mercedes, we need to have our own identity and we always will have in the future. We hope to be part of the career of many young drivers and successful drivers going forward. And we will look back with a warm heart of how fantastic that journey was, and how we’ve grown together.
EISEN: Are you already planning right now who will be in that seat in 2025?
WOLFF: Yeah, as you can imagine, we’ve been looking already about the option there is – we like the opportunities and maybe we are going to be bold as well.
EISEN: Some people are wondering if Carlos who – is Lewis taking his seat on – from the Ferrari team could end up in Mercedes or if it’s an opportunity, Toto, to bring in a younger, energized fan base and driver.
WOLFF: Yeah, I think it’s the full spectrum. We have, as you can imagine, the first day yesterday had quite a lot of phone calls and WhatsApps. And we’re going to take our time. I think the spectrum is from the very young talent which could be the future for a long, long time to all the way to the other spectrum, lots of still performance and knowledge. So I’m not sure where this is going to end. But the next few months are going to be interesting in evaluating all those options.
EISEN: There’s some speculation this could be a reflection of the 2024 car. Do you think George and Lewis this year will be able to compete with Red Bull and Max?
WOLFF: Well, it’s clear when you have stable regulations is always a difficult thing to catch up with a – client. It’s clear, they’ve been in a league of their own and pretty much us – and we’ve finished second last year in the World Championship and then there’s Ferrari and McLaren – and we’ve just got a little ramp up the game and find more performance, more lap time. And this is what we’re going to do with George and with Lewis the car, this is the kind of the single aim I’m having at the moment when looking at the short and medium term.
EISEN: Finally, you know, I’ve been watching the F1 tracking stock that’s run by Liberty Media and it’s up in the past few days. And I do wonder if, I mean, this is sort of undoubtedly good for the business of Formula One to have this kind of drama and surprise, wouldn’t you – would you agree?
WOLFF: Yeah, Formula One is much more than just the on track action and the sport. We’re also a 300 – 12 month reality show basically. Entertainment follows sport, though, and I’ve had a chat yesterday with Greg Maffei from Liberty and he said that actually fantastic content here in the offseason, to provide so much drama and change. And Formula One is always good for surprises. It’s the core, the essence of what we do and on track and off track.
EISEN: Yeah, Greg’s got to be happy, loving the content.
WOLFF: He is.
EISEN: Toto, thank you very much. Keep us posted. Of course, Toto Wolff, the head the Mercedes team in F1.
