Toto Wolff counters damning claim with 'transferring my soul' explanation

Toto Wolff has dismissed the notion that he is difficult to negotiate with, dispelling a myth recently propagated by former driver Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes team principal maintained he is "fair" at the deal-making table, which is believed to have oftentimes been his own kitchen table in the past.

Despite some of the "horrible" tactics that the 2016 F1 drivers' champion stated the Austrian employs, Wolff explained how he tries to empathise by "transferring my soul" to the person sitting opposite him.

It is a subject that has received considerable airtime as F1's silly season kicks into gear, with substantial noise engulfing Mercedes.

The Brackley-based squad is expected to imminently confirm that George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will remain with the team for the 2026 F1 season, a move that will finally put to rest months of speculation surrounding its driver lineup.

During that period, Wolff found himself at the centre of the F1 rumour mill as he engaged in talks with Max Verstappen over the Dutchman potentially leaving Red Bull in the not-too-distant future.

It left his two drivers in a precarious situation, but the 53-year-old insists that when actually at the negotiating table, he tries to put himself in the other person's position.

When asked what kind of negotiator he is and how tough he might be, Wolff explained why he was not.

"No, I believe I'm fair," Wolff told Formula.hu. "I believe that you need to always put yourself in the shoes of the other person.

"So I'm transferring my soul on the other side of the table, and I'm thinking if I were him or her, what would I want to achieve?

"Then I'm going back to myself and say, what is fair here actually? What do I think is the right thing to do?

"And I consider that, and I think I'm balanced at that. But obviously, either side sometimes wants to optimise, and so it can be tricky."