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Wolff hails 'generation change' of F1 drivers

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that the influx of new young drivers into Formula One is a healthy sign for the sport, even if it means that familiar faces like Felipe Massa and Jenson Button end up stepping away from the sport as a result.

"I think it's really exciting times, because you remember we were complaining a while ago that we had too many pay drivers in the sport, right or wrong," Wolff pointed out. "But now we have a very exciting generation coming in.

"Vandoorne - exceptional," he continued. "The way he won GP2 last year was really the most dominant GP2 win ever, and if you speak to [Renault team principal] Frederic Vasseur whose team he was racing in, said it was probably the best championship ever.

"You have Esteban Ocon who has a faultless CV from Formula Renault into Formula 3, winning European in the first year, winning GP3 as a rookie - he's very impressive.

"Pascal [Wehrlein] is the youngest-ever DTM winner making it in Formula One," he added. "Max [Verstappen] is probably not seen any more as a young junior because he's been there for two years.

"So you have four drivers who have entered Formula One purely on merit because of their records," he concluded. "I think this is great.

"Maybe we are just witnessing a generation change with the next generation of superstars, and I think some of these guys might have to look into."

An even bigger change to the sport might come in the form of new ownership, with reports that CVC is in talks with Liberty Media to sell its majority stake in the sport in the next few weeks.

"I hear the same rumours you hear," said Wolff when asked about the possible shakeup. "If there is a process in the background then it's certainly handled in the way you should be handling it [through private negotiations] in a professional way, just move forward and execute the transaction.

"I cannot give you any more information simply because I haven't got any."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.