(Motorsport-Total.com) – Toto Wolff has stood for the highest performance pressure as Mercedes team boss for years. As the father of his nine-year-old son Jack, the Austrian has to learn to balance ambition and the fun of motorsport.
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Jack Wolff competes in the IAME Karting Series and leads the championship after his recent race win in Italy. For his father, karting offers a direct view of the basics of motorsport:
“This is where it all starts. Formula 1 is basically this on steroids,” Wolff explains at the racetrack. “The same kind of racing, and watching the kids is just a great experience.”
Toto Wolff wants to limit the pressure on son Jack
But with sporting success, the pressure also grows. When asked if he feels the pressure of the championship, Jack simply answered in the joint interview: “Yes.” For Wolff, this is a difficult situation. As a father, he is emotionally involved, but at the same time he knows the demands associated with racing.
Especially with a nine-year-old child, the right balance must be found. “It is important to find the right balance because as a parent you are naturally emotionally involved, and that is completely normal,” says Wolff. “But he is nine years old, there are so many little kids and you have to get the balance right, and that’s what we try to do.”
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At the same time, the Mercedes team boss admitted that he and his family do not always achieve the perfect balance. “Sometimes we get it wrong. You have difficult moments, and he had some difficult moments today, but in the end everything comes together, and every little failure is a lesson for the future,” Wolff explains.
Wolff with a clear message to karting parents
Especially because he himself has been active in professional motorsport for years, Wolff is likely familiar with the temptation to push sporting development as early and consistently as possible. However, with his son, he apparently wants to avoid the performance pressure overshadowing the fun of racing.
When asked what advice he would give to other parents whose children work their way through the competitive junior kart classes, Wolff had a simple answer: “Just give them time. They are so small, let them enjoy karting, and that is the most important thing.”
For Wolff, the question of whether Jack will one day become a professional racing driver is not the primary focus. What matters more is that his son keeps the joy of motorsport and learns from the experiences in karting.
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