Toto Wolff

speaker

484 appearances 3 recordings 2 series first heard Dec 2024 last heard 16 Jan

Toto Wolff’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jan 2026 with 1.

Appearances

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Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard · Toto Wolff (team principal of Mercedes F1 team) · 4 Dec 2024 podcast

So he was struggling and mom was succeeding in a pretty dramatic way?

He wasn't present anymore. Yeah, because you were eight when he got diagnosed and then you were 15 when he died. Yeah. Your parents also got divorced when you were eight. It had no relation to the brain cancer diagnosis, did it? No, the divorce was that.

I love you.

Susie. No, listen to me. This is such a delight. If my wife dies and Toto dies, I'm sprinting to you, okay? I just want to say, what a dynamo. A beautiful race car driver who also runs an academy. What more does someone need? That's pretty cool. All right, I'm going to turn you back to him, but I'm delighted to hear your voice. Here's Toto. Hello. How fun. Okay, sleep well.

If we become friends, text me. I do. Yeah, we don't need to talk on the phone.

You know what? I got to figure out how to put it on her phone because she doesn't ever, ever answer. But what I think happened is I was asking you about your parents' divorce and Susie was always there. And then she hit a button to call to interrupt that question because she's like, oh, Toto's not going to want to talk about that. No, I talk openly about it. I know. You're wonderful.

Because this is who I am. Yes. This is later in the conversation, but I'll say you and I have a blessing. We're big enough and we fit the role enough that it affords us a willingness to be vulnerable in a way men have a hard time doing. And I think it's a luxury. Yeah. If I had a different life, it would be much harder for me. So I recognize it is easier for me than someone else.

Yeah, in your teens, and this happens, but mom and dad separated. So that was separate from the diagnosis.

The thing I thought of, and this is a tricky question, but my dad got diagnosed with small cell carcinoma in August and he was dead on January 1st. So it was like a three month thing. And then my stepdad got prostate cancer and that was like a two and a half, three year thing. And I'll say the stress of having a loved one have a condition that you're not sure when the end is.

I found the experience with my dad much easier to process. It's like, okay, this is happening. Let's spend the next few months together. I'll clear my schedule. I'll take you to your appointments. I find it very hard. And the notion that your dad had this condition for seven years, you're just kind of like, where are we at? What's going to happen? That feels very stressful.

And then a guilt when you feel relieved it's over. Exactly.

Yes.

But to me, that was a huge gift because I had so much resentment. They got divorced when I was three. He had a great life. We lived kind of poorly. I had a lot of judgment of him. And there was the moment where I looked at him and you're right. He was not the big demonstrative alpha male. He was a little boy on a bed. And I thought, Oh, yeah. He's like a little boy.

And he's always been a little boy. And I'm still a little boy. And you never stop being a little boy. And it actually dissolves so much resentment to see he's just a human that's scared. That was weirdly a gift.

I think that's the weird piece you have to come to with your past, which is if you're lucky enough to end up somewhere you're happy with, as you have and I have, and I have kids I love so much and have a great wife, I go, well, fuck, I wouldn't tinker with anything because I still want to end up right here.

So I got to understand and process that it was hurtful and these things happen and also have a weird gratitude for it and like it too. Exactly my thoughts and my feelings. Did something prompt five years ago? Why five years ago did you start confronting that?

You're there. Absolutely. If I were you and I set out on this journey first as a race car driver, then pivoting and becoming an investor in teams, then becoming a team principal and a CEO and having all this success. Five years ago, you would have been on your six constructors championship in a row. And if I were you, I would go, wow, we did absolutely everything we wanted to do.

Where's the elation? Why aren't I whole? Why don't I feel content? Why am I still scared? You're absolutely right.

It's scary, right?

Okay, great. So this is my huge fear is that my motivation for the last 49 years has been, you're lazy, you're a piece of shit, you're a failure, you're an embarrassment. And now get up and do things to disprove that theory. And so the great fear of mine is, can I write from a place of happiness and love? Can I act from a place of happiness and love and not fear?

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