Speculation over Toto Wolff’s future at Mercedes and a possible move to Aston Martin is back once again.
At the beginning of the year, it was rumoured the team boss could link up with Lawrence Stroll to takeover the Brackley-based team that is currently operated by the German manufacturer.
This was before, though linked to, the Canadian buying a stake in Aston Martin, which he subsequently did and has now increased to 25 per cent after the British carmaker was forced to adapt the terms of their deal following the stock market collapse caused by the coronavirus.
While a takeover of the Mercedes works team is now unlikely, it is reported by the Daily Mail that Wolff could leave the team when his contract expires at the end of 2020 to become CEO at Aston Martin, who will return to F1 as a works team when Racing Point is rebranded next season.
The newspaper adds Wolff and Stroll, who are known to be friends, also flew back together from Australia, where the initial talk of a role for the Austrian at Aston began.
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This story has only really gained traction, however, after it emerged Toto was not Mercedes’ representative in the video meeting between F1, the FIA and teams on Thursday to discuss the sport’s way out of the current coronavirus crisis.
Instead, technical director James Allison took his place as it was agreed to postpone the 2021 technical rule changes until 2022 and power was given to F1 bosses to decide a new calendar without needing unanimous team support.
Of course, publicly Mercedes and Wolff will undoubtedly deny any kind of link between these events, but at a time when all F1 personnel who went to Australia are meant to be in precautionary two-week isolation at home, it does beg the question why he wasn’t available for a critical meeting such as that.