Wolff recalls dramatic Nürburgring crash that led to love

Toto and Susie Wolff are Formula 1’s inescapable power-couple, but their relationship began not with champagne toasts or podium celebrations, but with a terrifying 189 mph crash at the Nürburgring that nearly ended in disaster for the Mercedes boss.

On that day at the Nürburgring in 2009, it wasn’t just the Austrian’s car that was turned upside – it was his entire life.

Little did he know, the accident and twist of fate would pave the way for him to meet the love of his life, Susie Stoddart.

Risky Business at the Green Hell

The Nürburgring’s legendry Nordschleife, commonly known as the ‘Green Hell’, has both thrilled and terrified racers for generations.

For 37-year-old Wolff, it represented a challenge he couldn’t resist. Driving a Porsche 911 RSR, he was determined to break the seven-minute barrier on the notoriously treacherous track.

He recounted the moment and its aftermath on a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast.

“The track was different, it wasn’t the new asphalt. It was riskier and bumpier,” Wolff recalled. “It was crazy dangerous. There is nothing like it.”

• Read also: How loss and trauma fueled Toto Wolff’s success in F1

His friend and racing legend Niki Lauda had already delivered a blunt warning: “Why are you doing this? It’s so stupid. Nobody cares what you do at the Nürburgring!”

But Wolff, in his own words, was going through “a bit of a mid-life crisis” and wasn’t about to back down.

The Perfect Storm

The lap began ominously. It wasn’t even the full-speed attempt; it was just a preparation lap. But something felt off.

“The car already felt odd, the tyres were falling apart,” he admitted.

Still, Wolff decided to press on. “I said to myself, while already knowing that the car had an issue, I am going to give it one try.

“The car was up by 15 seconds. It would have been a 6.40 or a 6.35.”

But just as things were looking promising, disaster struck.

“The car felt odd. I said, ‘I am just going to finish the lap.’ Then I had a puncture in the most dangerous part. I was doing 189 mph.”

With a blown right rear tyre, Wolff lost control. His Porsche careened into the guardrail, flipped onto its roof, and slid for 250 meters before coming to a halt.

“I didn’t go into the forest, which was lucky,” he said. “I stopped the car, it was on fumes, and I thought everything was normal.”

What happened next was a blur. “With shock and adrenaline, I got myself out of the car. I had massive concussion. They found me unconscious. They put me in the ambulance and took me to the local hospital, with oxygen on.”

A Brush with Disaster and a Surprise Romance

In the hospital, things looked grim. Wolff had compression fractures in his spine and nerve damage that left him tingling from head to toe.

“The worrying bit was an ache in my spine, and tingling in my legs. I thought, ‘Niki was right.’”

But more worrying, one of his eyes had tilted inward, leaving him with vertigo so severe he couldn’t sleep.

“I lost my smell and taste and when it returned, everything tasted like cardboard. I had suffered nerve damage,” he remembered.

In true Wolff style, he defied doctors’ orders and flew back to Vienna – though the private plane kept an altitude of 10,000 feet to minimize pressure on his damaged eye.

Amid the chaos of recovery, fate intervened. Susie Stoddart, a professional racing driver and rising star in the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), heard about Wolff’s crash.

"She was on a fitness camp with other Mercedes drivers," Wolff explained. "I was a shareholder in the touring car team but we didn’t know each other.

There was a rumour that Toto had a bad accident. She called me. And that’s how we started… She asked if I was okay. We started talking. It was a half an hour phone call."

And the rest, as they say, is history. A terrifying crash at the Nürburgring led to a chance encounter, a blossoming romance, and ultimately, a happy marriage.

A truly unexpected silver lining to a harrowing experience.

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