Mercedes chief executive Toto Wolff says he studied Manchester United to understand why “great teams” decline.
After the dramatic events of last year’s showdown between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes have struggled to recover.
While Hamilton headed into F1’s summer break off the back of five podium finishes, the team have fallen way behind Red Bull and Ferrari during what has been a difficult campaign for the seven-time world champion and George Russell, though he too is showing signs of improvement.
In an effort to understand how and why previously successful teams decline, Wolff revealed he looked at United’s struggles in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
“’I studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs],” he told the Financial Times while referencing United.
“No sports team in any sport has ever won eight consecutive World Championship titles and there are many reasons for that, and what is at the core is the human.
“The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious.”
