I think he is an idiot.
Why?
Because momentum doesn’t exist in racing. Every year, teams try to build the best cars they can and every year it’s a crap shoot. With hindsight, reasons can be given why a previously fast team turns up with a turkey (see McLaren or Williams) or why a previously slow team suddenly has a rocket ship (see Brawn). But once all the necessary resources have been acquired, its mostly just blind, dumb luck which determines the true speed of a racing car compared to its rivals.
When BMW slunk out of F1, SuperMario Theissen was ridiculed for having sacrificed its 2008 title chances for a methodical campaign planned over a couple of years. As if success in F1 can be achieved by sticking to a business plan. Not to kick SuperMario when he is down, almost every manufacturer believes racing success can be achieved by carefully adhering to a business plan.
Mercedes seems to be the most recent one to jump into that black hole. And there I though Wolff was supposed to bring in racing savvy.
Racing is still a sport in which some years everything comes together (necessary resources, great driver(s), fast car, weak opponents etc.) to allow a genuine title challenge. And some years, it all falls apart despite having all the necessary resources on paper, perhaps just because another team is even better. Lotus in 1988 (camel, piquet, honda) or McLaren in 2013 are good examples of the latter.
Edited by Gilles4Ever, 12 August 2013 - 09:48.
Changed title to something less inflamatory