From Nürburgring Tragedy to Love: Wolff’s Turning Point

A life-changing Nürburgring crash connected Toto Wolff with future wife Susie, marking a pivotal moment in his journey.

Toto Wolff revealed how a rare and violent crash at the Nürburgring could have changed his life. The Mercedes F1 team principal was 39 when he crashed a Porsche 911 RSR on the iconic Nordschleife, leading to a lengthy recovery, a moment of reckoning, and a reprimand from Niki Lauda.

“Someone came up with the crazy idea of trying to break the lap record for GT cars. I thought it was a fun idea; I love challenges. At the time, the GT record, held by Sabine Schmitz, was 7:07,” Wolff said on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard.

“The track was different then, not the new asphalt. It was riskier and bumpier. It was incredibly dangerous. There’s nothing like it. I was friends with Niki Lauda, who had his Formula 1 accident there. That’s where he got burned.”

“He told me, ‘Why are you doing this? It’s really stupid. Nobody cares what you’re doing at the Nürburgring!’ I was in the middle of a midlife crisis! It happened during a preparation lap. The car already felt strange, and the tires were degrading.”

“It was an amateur approach. Knowing the car had issues, I still decided to give it a try. On that lap, the car gained 15 seconds. It would have been a 6:40 or 6:35.”

“Today, a good time is around 6:20, but this was 15 years ago, and the track was completely different. Parts that are flat today weren’t back then. The car felt strange. I thought, ‘I’ll just finish the lap.’ Then I had a tire blowout at the most dangerous part of the track. I was going 304 km/h.”

The weeks following the crash were particularly challenging for the Austrian: “I couldn’t sleep on my back for two months due to nerve damage, and I lost my sense of taste and smell—everything tasted like cardboard!”

However, this difficult period took on a special significance for Wolff, as it led to him meeting Susie Stoddart, then a driver in the Mercedes program, who eventually became his wife.

“She was attending a fitness camp with other Mercedes drivers. I was a shareholder in the touring car team, but we didn’t know each other. There was a rumor going around that Toto had been in a serious accident.”

“Paul di Resta, Gary Paffett, and the whole group were there, and when they heard I’d had a bad crash on the Nordschleife, they decided Susie should call me. So, she called me. And that’s how it started… she asked if I was okay. We began talking. It was a half-hour phone call.”

The two married in 2011, but he can no longer drive on the Nordschleife because his wife forbids it: “Susie has veto power and says she won’t allow it. She hasn’t driven on the circuit because she knows what’s sensible, but maybe one day, secretly, I’ll go back.”

“I’ve made peace with the Nordschleife, in a way. It’s a story I like to tell, but my wife doesn’t let me say I love the Nordschleife. When I do, she responds, ‘No, you love me, and you love the Nordschleife.’ But, to be honest with you, I still love the Nordschleife.”