Toto Wolff takes aim at F1 critics in remarkable seven-minute speech

“We all, drivers, the FIA, F1 and the teams, we need to understand our responsibility as the guardians of this sport.

“We need to respect what the sport has done for us, and work constructively among ourselves to improve where things need to be improved and safeguard when it's needed. We will all have our opinions and that's absolutely legit.

“But these opinions and discussions should happen among the stakeholders more than in the public eye. The sport is in a great place. We have many hundreds of thousands of fans who love the sport. There are others that don't love certain aspects of the sport, but in order to protect all of this huge opportunity that the sport gives us, we shouldn't badmouth in public.

“We've been all falling foul of this in the past because of gamesmanship or because of trying to protect a situation or improve a regulatory situation - but we need to be very careful, because the things we say in public, they may not have an immediate repercussion on how the fans perceive the support, but that comes with a lag.

“That is the responsibility we have. Of course, everybody's entitled to have an opinion, but I think we owe it to ourselves to express that opinion in the stakeholder groups. Now, this has happened in the last few weeks in a constructive way. We need to we have set our objectives in the way that we want to improve where we believe it improves. We want to look after the safety of the drivers.

“We want to protect what we see in racing. We act upon data, what do fans love and what do they not love and respect also the hardcore motorsport fans that have loved what we had before. But there's also a certain degree of nostalgia that makes the past much better than the present. 

“People talk greatly about the 2000s and forget that there were years where there wasn't a single overtake in a race. It was maybe great for the drivers, because it was flat out through the corners. But if this product is boring for spectators, then we don't gain. 

“We had many years where the product was criticised, and we acted erratically on changes, and they weren't any better either.

“We are in a very privileged situation today that we have a great sport, and we all have a responsibility to carry that. 

“At the same time, we need to see the [Oliver] Bearman accident for what it was. And it was a misjudgment of a situation. It's like pushing the boost button, it's like not breaking on a kink where you supposedly should brake. And whilst we need to protect the safety of the drivers, and this needs to be of utmost priority and importance, there's plenty of brilliant racing happening in the world that we as racers love. 

“I love Le Mans. I'm sitting overnight watching the timing screen, but the hypercars go through the Porsche Curves 30 or 40 kilometres faster than the GT3 cars. The speed differences are enormous. We have seen critical situations and massive accidents between those two different classes. I remember I was awake overnight when [Mike] Rockefeller crashed against the GT car in the night, because it was a misjudgment. 

“I remember Alan McNish having a spectacular off with a GT3 car. I remember an accident a year ago in the Porsche Curves because of a misjudgment of one of the drivers. And we still love it. And this series exists with all of that.

“We look at Nordscheife, I don't know who of you looked at that, and obviously we had the tragic event. But one of the fascinations of the Nordschleife is that a works GT3 car races a private Volkswagen Polo with amateur drivers in the night, in the rain, over crests that you don't know what to expect from the other side. 

“And even the best racers in F1, in our world, love that sport with all the dangers it brings with it. When you look at the WEC in Imola this weekend, the lap time differences between the prototypes and the GT cars were more than 10 seconds.

“Let's concentrate on those two priorities that I mentioned before, and make it better and safer. Will it always be the safest sport? It won't. It is about understanding what those systems do to the car, how we can reduce the risks in particular situations, like in the rain or whatever.

“But always reminding ourselves we are guardians of the sport. We have responsibility for the sport, the opportunity it has given to all of us, rather than looking at your personal advantage or disadvantage of certain regulations being changed or not.”