While the drivers may share a youthfulness that puts them both in the Gen Z bucket, Wolff said working with the pair helped him see the generation as having a multitude of skillsets and needs.
“I have two very different drivers: a young English gentleman and an Italian rock-and-roller,” Wolff told Fortune. “I think it’s a bit unfair to say they’re all the same, that Gen Zs are all the same.”
“It’s about the human, about their personalities, about their strengths and weaknesses,” he added. “I really enjoy working with either of them.”
F1 drivers—numbering only 20 in the sport and currently with an average age of 27—are not typical employees. But even working with young elite athletes, Wolff believes everyone should take it a little easier on the generation.
“I believe that we mustn’t pressurize Gen Z so much by, ‘You’ve got to find your purpose, your passion, and work hard,’” he said. “It’s important to understand that when you’re young, your interest can change, and as long as you give it all you have with enthusiasm, then there’s a pretty good chance in terms of success.”
F1 drivers typically begin their racing careers in the single-digits, driving go-karts before working their way up the single-seat racing series, winning sponsorship dollars and races. But committing to a career before one has even left grade school should not be the norm, Wolff said.
“Nobody expects a 25-year-old to have found the ultimate goal or job,” he concluded. “It was in my end-of-20’s that I started to find out actually what I wanted.”
“Five years ago, nobody would have stopped Toto Wolff on the street. Now people stopped him on the street,” Werner Brell, CEO of autosport multimedia company Motorsport Network, told Fortune. “That’s obviously so America, so Hollywood. I think to me, that’s an unexpected outcome of how the content side and the side of the storytelling has improved the sport.”
