Wolff's Admits Crashing $620,000 Mercedes At Imola

Friday, 15 March 2024 at 10:30

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff crashed a $620,000 Mercedes AMG GT3 at Imola Circuit during the week between the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix.

Ever since the pre-season testing started on 21-23 February, F1 teams have had literally no break. The pre-season testing in Bahrain followed a race weekend at the same circuit the following week.

During the few days they had in between, the teams worked intensely, analyzing data collected from testing, improving, and preparing their cars for the season's first race.

As the first race of the season finished, everyone had maybe a one-day break and then was off to Saudi Arabia, where the second race of the season—the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix—took place just a week later.

Now that the race weekend in Jeddah is finally over, drivers and their teams can finally enjoy a one-week break before heading to Australia for the third race of the 2024 season.

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Toto Wolff decided to dedicate a portion of his free time to taking his Mercedes AMG GT3 for a spin around Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, also known as the Imola Circuit. This is the same circuit where the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will take place on 19th May.

Many don't know this, but Toto Wolff is an experienced racing driver who broke a GT car lap record around Nurburgring in the Porsche 911 RSR.

However, he hasn't raced for a long time and is shown during his testing at Imola. The team principal of Mercedes apparently crashed the $620,000 AMG GT3. He later told OE24:

"My driving skills are not ideal. I recently tested in Imola. I had a problem with the traction control and crashed into the wall after two laps. Luckily I'm fine afterwards."

As thesportsrush.com reports, the 52-year-old then downplayed the incident as a “kiss on the wall” compared to his devastating accident on the Nurburgring - Nordschleife circuit years ago.