SATURDAY, 3 JULY, 2021
AN ALMOST INDEPENDENT F1 NEWSPAPER
THE SECRET HISTORY
OF TOTO WOLFF
The Mercedes boss‘ days of records, rallying,
and racing with Red Bull
02 Gallery F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
Sensational days in red-white-red:
finally, there are fans in Spielberg
again, Max Verstappen (pictured) is
hot favourite, and teammate Checo
Perez is driving his 200th GP.
CLOCKWORK
ORANGE
After last week’s successful Styrian GP,
this weekend’s Austrian GP is all about
setting a record: if Max Verstappen can
repeat his victory from last Sunday,
he will be the first F1 driver in history
to win four times at this track.
In yesterday’s two free practice
sessions the Dutchman posted excellent
lap times, showing he has no intention
of letting his rivals have the slightest
say in his role as boss in Spielberg this
weekend.
“Don’t let the lion stand around in his undershirt.” Can’t understand a word
we’re saying? Maybe reading our columnist on page 6 will help.
The Red Bulletin 3 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special
F1 Red Bull Ring Gallery 03
We’ve been waiting for these pictures for over a year: well-filled stands, and
it’s only Friday. 100,000 spectators are expected for the weekend.
“Is rain coming?” “Not today.
But probably on Sunday.”
Christian Horner and Ferrari
boss Mattia Binotto are
certainly talking shop about
the weather here.
No more records: from the race after next, it will barely be possible to stop
in less than two seconds due to a change in the pit stop regulations.
PICTUREDESK.COM, PHILIP PLATZER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, GEPA IMAGES, GETTY IMAGES WERNER JESSNER
Warning, track limits: yesterday,
the drivers repeatedly lost lap times
because they drove over the yellow
“sausage kerbs”. This could also be
an issue in today’s qualifying.
04 Gallery F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
From the hunted to the hunter: after
years of dominance, Mercedes is no longer
the favourite. It’s good for the sport.
The Red Bull Skydive Team already jumped in yesterday for their
big performance at the GP on Sunday.
Impressive rookie Yuki: still racing in F2 until this year, Tsunoda in
the AlphaTauri was in the top 5 for long stretches yesterday.
Australian with an affinity
for football: Daniel Ricciardo,
here on the podium in 2017.
GETTY IMAGES, GEPA IMAGES, GETTY IMAGES/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, PICTURESESK.COM WERNER JESSNER
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3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
PIT BITCH:
HELEN PARADYCE
Fish eggs, baseball bats, clown cars
and underdressed lions. Our confused
columnist reckons 2021 is shaping up
nicely, if a little strangely…
C
an a year have passed since we were last here, bursting with
hope and expectation that a full season of Formula 1 lay
ahead of us? The hastily commissioned team-branded
masks were barely fit for purpose, but we didn’t care, we
were about to go racing and could see the light at the end of the
tunnel, except the light turned out to be the oncoming train
transporting the second and third waves of the pandemic.
However, as always in F1, the sport took a look at the regs, found
a way to navigate around the problems and beat every other sport to
the competitive punch. Staging a whopping 26 F1 races in 52 weeks
is a unique, unbelievable performance, except that ‘unique’
and ‘unbelievable’ are generally words I use when having
to think of something non-committal to say to actor
friends after the opening night of a terrible show.
I just don’t think F1 needs to be rammed down our
necks at a rate surpassed only by the number of
times everyone has to be deep-throated with a
cotton bud, to prove viral purity. If you are
constantly fed a diet of caviar, eventually you see it
for what it is – slimy, salty fish eggs.
Here in Austria there is nothing fishy about food
preferences, best summed up as ‘veal is life’. And if it’s
not schnitzel, they love a bit of a dairy, to the extent they
actually have a cheesy libation called Lattella, something I
assume would only appeal to fans of Daniel Ricciardo’s shoey.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be here, because the delights of
an Austrian double-header bring back memories of the fun I had as a
chalet girl in Kitzbühel. Of course, after the holiday romance wore
off, double headers gave way to back-to-backs and then, when
regular partners decided it was all a bit unsanitary, the inevitable
one-time assignations with desperate old flames looking to rekindle
a dead romance. Yes, we’re looking at you Istanbul Park.
Going back to caviar, it has to be said that the current season is
the finest Royal Beluga, as we’ve finally got the Max-Lewis fight
we’ve been craving. Lewis is still Lewis and Max has matured into a
calmly confident driver, who no longer tries to win every race at the
first corner of lap one. It also helps that he no longer looks quite so
much like Alfred E Neuman off the cover of ‘Mad’ magazine.
Mercedes’ troubles haven’t been helped by Valtteri Bottas’ woes,
the normally ultra-reliable Finn sometimes looking about as
IMPRINT
‘If you are
constantly fed
caviar, eventually
you see it for what
it is – slimy, salty
fish eggs.’
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competitive as a one-legged man at an arse-kicking
contest. I refuse to feel sorry for F1 drivers, given
the life they lead, but a bit of sympathy for VB might
be in order. I remember Eddie Irvine comparing being
Michael Schumacher’s team-mate to waking up every
morning and being hit on the head with a baseball bat.
This year’s great racing hasn’t got in the way of gallons of ink
being wasted in the media on what really matters – wobbly wings,
exploding tyres and comedy trackside hazards. Fans just want to see
the drivers racing hard, not Coco driving his Clown Car, with the
mirrors and doors popping off and the steering wheel coming away
in his hand, as he honks his horn after hitting a Sausage Dog kerb.
Looking back at the Styrian GP, I can’t believe Verstappen didn’t
win Driver of the Day. The last time I paid attention, all of the
Netherlands was duty bound to vote for Max after every race, even
if he retired on the formation lap. Then I realised they were all too
busy packing their caravans with all the orangery they can find –
scarves, shirts and of course the lion costume – ready for this
weekend’s full house. They’ll be here in their colourful thousands
singing their strange songs with lyrics such as “Laat de leeuw niet
in zijn hempie staan”, which as you all know translates as: “Don’t
let the lion stand around in his undershirt.” No, me neither.
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HELEN PARADYCE TIM MARRS (COVER), YANN LEGENDRE
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08 Cover F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
Toto Wolff as we know
him: in command, on
the Mercedes pit wall.
THE SECRET LIFE OF
TOTO W.
The world knows him as Mercedes’ commanding team
principle. But TORGER CHRISTIAN WOLFF used to be a
very different type indeed. A glimpse into the secret
Red Bulletin archive reveals a multifaceted racer
who didn’t shy away from drama.
Words WERNER JESSNER
PICTUREDESK.COM
The Red Bulletin 3 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special
F1 Red Bull Ring Cover 09
Helmet on for a drive
from hell. “They always
say only locals can drive
fast here. I drove up
from Vienna, practised
a bit and now we’ll see
what happens.”
BILDSYMPHONIE/ANDREAS TRÖSTER
TOTO,
THE RECORD-
HOLDER
The Nordschleife of the
Nürburgring is rightly considered
the toughest racetrack in the
world. In April 2009, Toto tried to
break the lap record of 7 minutes
and 7 seconds in a Porsche 911
RSR. He did it on his first attempt:
7:03.28. Then there was the
unofficial – timed by a hand-held
stopwatch – Niki Lauda record
from the 1970s of 6m58s. Toto
wanted to break that too. The fact
that fingernail-sized chunks of
tyre were coming loose on the first
lap should have given Toto pause
for thought. Hardly, and so the
inevitable occurred... He came off
at the notorious Fuchsröhre
(Foxhole) at 268kph. It took
months for him to be able to taste
and smell again after the fearsome
crash; the deceleration on impact
shook his nerves badly.
Toto’s friend Niki Lauda
called the attempt “the
most stupid suicide
mission I’ve ever heard
of in my whole life”.
Porsche said: “It was
the worst-damaged
roll-cage a driver had
ever managed to bring
in by himself.”
The record is gone:
7:03 minutes for
20.8km. Toto said
afterwards: “The car
seems a little bit
dangerous to me.
Anything can happen on
the Nordschleife.
You’ll quickly end up
in the local hospital
in Adenau if you
don’t watch out.”
The Porsche 911/997
was the tool of choice
for the attempt to break
the Nürburgring lap
record in 2009. The
460hp racing car had
dominated the 24-hour
race on the same circuit
in previous years.
10 Cover F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
Full-on attack: Toto
quickly won his way to
spectators’ hearts with
his uncompromising
driving style. And he
thought internationally
right from the off; in
2002 he even finished a
respectable sixth in the
N-GT category at the FIA
GT Championship.
TOTO,
THE RALLY
DRIVER
Even though he cut his motorsport
teeth on the race track, he was just
as taken with rally driving. And as
Toto probably thought at the time,
it would at least provide a lot more
fun in a day than you’d get in a
long-distance race, which largely
consisted of waiting around. He
was a latecomer to the rally stages
but he learned quickly. And as we
know of Toto, he didn’t do things
by half measures. From July 2006
to late 2013 he was involved with
Austrian Raimund Baumschlager’s
elite rallying outfit, BRR, and
drove their cars, mostly
Mitsubishis. The highlight from
that period was second place in
the Austrian championship behind
team-leader, Baumschlager
himself.
Wolff’s co-driver
Gerald Pöschl guided
the future team
boss through thick
and thin during their
rally years.
Among the established
rally-drivers, Toto was
seen as someone who
sought his limits at
the upper extreme
and learned from his
mistakes. He is
convinced, “I could
have made a living from
rally driving.”
HARALD ILLMER, GEPA IMAGES, WERNER SCHNEIDER
The Red Bulletin 3 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special
F1 Red Bull Ring Cover 11
TOTO,
THE BULL
In the early 2000s, Toto took
part in the FIA-GT World
Championships and in other
major long-distance races in São
Paolo, Spa-Francorchamps and
Silverstone. He racked up class
wins over a number of years for
Porsche, BMW and Ferrari
alongside team-mates such as
Karl Wendlinger, Dieter Quester
and Philipp Peter. In 2006, he
wrote history with the latter
pair and German legend Hans-
Joachim Stuck when he won
the first Dubai 24-Hour Race
wearing blue Red Bull overalls.
Legendary… Class
victory for Wendlinger/
Wolff/Quester/Zonca
at the 1000 Miles
of Interlagos in 2004.
And who recorded the
quickest lap in the
toughest of conditions?
Yup, Toto Wolff.
You wouldn’t have
thought back in 2004
that this young man with
the nice hair and the
plastic watch would
years later go on to
become the successful
Mercedes team principal
and the toughest rival for
his partner of many
years, Red Bull.
ARCHIV DIETER QUESTER
Toto Wolff, Philipp Peter
and Dieter Quester
celebrate winning the
2005 Misano 6 Hours in
their BMW E46. Virtually
like father and son,
Toto only contested
one long-distance race
without veteran star
Dieter by his side.
12 Great races F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
LEARN
AND
COME BACK
STRONGER
After a tough start to his F1 career PIERRE GASLY has
bounced back in style. And for the Frenchman, the strength
of his recovery is founded on the lessons he learned in his
earliest years in single seaters. Here, Pierre picks the races
that made him one of F1’s hottest properties…
Words MATT YOUSON
Pierre Gasly has experienced more
than the average 25 year-old – even
more than the average 25 year-old F1
driver. At the moment, he’s riding the
crest of a wave, delivering the sort of
electrifying qualifying laps and strong races
that mark him out as a top talent.
Of course, Pierre has been here before.
Few drivers will experience the rapid rise,
shattering fall, and extraordinary return
that the young man from Rouen has been
through. But through it all Gasly has shown
remarkable resilience, a mental fortitude he
says comes from experience.
“You always improve and year-after-year
you become stronger. But also you become
who you are race after race, building, getting
more experience,” he says. “And also, you
progress from the mistakes and failures,
because that’s how you improve.”
When asked to list the races that have
made him the driver he is today, Pierre,
perhaps surprisingly, largely opts for
formative experiences during his time in
the Red Bull Junior Team. He confesses it’s
difficult to list only a few when there are so
many – but these are the races that stand
out for him.
The Red Bulletin 3 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special F1 Red Bull Ring Great races 13
SANDRO BAEBLER
A member of F1’s elite
band of race winners,
Pierre Gasly has matured
to become one of the
sport’s top talents.
14 Great races F1 Red Bull Ring redbulletin.com/f1special
3 July, 2021 The Red Bulletin
2013 FORMULA
RENAULT 2.0, CIRCUIT DE
CATALUNYA, SPAIN, SEASON
FINALE. TECH 1 RACING, P6
“My final race in Formula Renault
2.0 sticks in my mind because I won
the Championship that day – but it
was a very tight battle with Oliver
Rowland that went down to that
final race. I remember qualifying
was going really badly! I had a lot
of traffic and yellow flags and just
couldn’t do a lap. It was a highpressure
situation, I was down in
P20 with just one more chance –
which had never been something
that happened before during that
year. I had a clean lap and took
pole position.
“I went into that last race of
the season leading by eight points.
Rowland tried to pass me on the
first lap and crashed into me, trying
to win the title. He broke his front
wing, and damaged my car. He
picked up a drive through penalty,
but I was able to recover and finish
sixth. It was quite an intense
experience but dealing with that
sort of thing was valuable later.”
Unrewarded in Italy
2015 GP2 FEATURE RACE, MONZA, ITALY, DAMS, DNF
“There were a couple of memorable races in GP2 but the one that really
stands out is from my first year, in Monza. I took my first pole position
Looking back, I remember at the time feeling that I was really fast in
qualifying and that in the race we were struggling a bit more – but even so we
were leading quite comfortably. And then we broke the driveshaft during the
pit stop. I remember it being difficult to digest. It was an important one. It
would have been my first win in GP2. For me, I learned to accept that you can
sometimes have a great weekend on a personal level but with no reward.”
An emotional victory
at Silverstone
2016 GP2 FEATURE
RACE, SILVERSTONE,
ENGLAND. PREMA, VICTORY
“In 2016 I won the GP2 title, and
the weekend that really stands out
for me was Silverstone. It was my
first win of the season, but it sticks
in the mind because it was a
particular sort of weekend. On
Friday, I was involved in a road car
crash. It was a bad one. [Travelling
to the circuit, with Pierre in the
back of the car with his mother, the
car was involved in a collision with
another vehicle, and reportedly
rolled four times before coming to a
halt 50m from the road].
“My Mum went to intensive care
with broken vertebrae, broken ribs
and a head injury. She was kept in
intensive care and it was quite
worrying. I went to the track and
was fastest in practice, then in the
afternoon I qualified P2 and won
the race on Saturday. It was odd
because my parents were not there
at the time to celebrate with me. I
was strangely motivated but it was
one that, mentally, was not easy: to
go through the weekend but still
manage to perform.”
GETTY IMAGES, MOTORSPORT IMAGES
The Red Bulletin 3 July, 2021 redbulletin.com/f1special F1 Red Bull Ring Great races 15
2020 FORMULA 1
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX,
ALPHATAURI, VICTORY
GETTY IMAGES/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, MOTORSPORT IMAGES
2017 SUPER FORMULA
AUTOPOLIS ROUND, JAPAN,
TEAM MUGEN, VICTORY
More often than not a GP2/F2
champion can find an F1 seat for the
following season, but with no seat
available at Red Bull’s F1 teams,
Pierre was sent to Japan for a year
of racing in the high-powered Super
Formula championship. He came
within half a point of winning the
title, and had the final two rounds
not been cancelled due to Typhoon
Lan, may have gone one better – but
the experience was critical. Pierre
lists his race win at Autopolis as the
stand-out race – because he and his
team decided to gamble on the
unknown Soft compound tyre. It
was part of a larger learning cycle
that saw him take a much deeper
dive into technical matters – if only
to be better understood.
“Japan was a lot of new things
for me. When I went to Japan, I had
no idea what was going to happen. I
built a relationship with Honda and
Japan: wiser and more experienced
was also able to spend more time
than usual with my team and
understand how they operate.
I didn’t speak Japanese, only one
guy in the team spoke English,
so there was a lot of potential for
miscommunication. I became more
involved on the technical side
so they could understand what I
needed. Great experience. I learned
a lot and was much more involved
than I’d been in other series where
the driver gives feedback but
concentrates mostly on driving.”
Unexpected joy in Monza
Pierre’s performances in Japan,
learning new circuits and new
technology, embedding himself
in a different culture and
producing results from day one
earned him a call-up to Toro
Rosso for the final few F1 rounds
of 2017 before a full-time drive
for 2018. In 2019 a step up to
Red Bull Racing resulted in the
toughest time of Pierre’s career
as he struggled with the RB15
and was eventually sent back to
Toro Rosso to build again. In Spa
that year he also lost close friend
Anthoine Hubert to a fatal crash
in Formula 2. It was a dark period
for Gasly, but through the next
year he channelled the negative
energy into positive races,
scoring his first podium in Brazil
and then last year an incredible
first win at the Italian Grand Prix.
“It takes so many things to win
a race in F1. When I crossed the
finish line I just thought of my
team, my family — I was so
thankful for all of their hard
work, their sacrifices,” he told
The Players Tribune. “I knew that
I was the one who had physically
crossed the line, but they had all
been there right beside me. That
cool down lap ... I wish I could
experience that a million times.
The best feeling. The best.”
Reflecting on those years,
Pierre says they have made him
the driver and person he is now.
“You always have challenges
in life, whatever you do,” he says.
“It’s not only myself. Everyone
can relate to that. It’s important
to face those challenges and I
think that’s also what shapes you
as a person – as a driver, as a
human. This period of my life
shaped who I am today and even
if it was tough I never gave up and
I always had a clear idea of what I
want to achieve in the sport.”
And have all of these formative
experiences contributed to the
success he’s now enjoying? Pierre
grins: “Of course! The good days
but also the mistakes and failures
– because that’s how you improve
yourself, how you learn and come
back stronger.”
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