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Toto Wolff is to undergo knee surgery later this month which will rule him out of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Wolff has confirmed to Speedcafe that the operation will take place on the Wednesday after the Singapore Grand Prix to repair anterior cruciate ligament damage in his left knee.
It is the same knee Wolff severely injured after falling from an exercise ball whilst training with wife Susie in 2015.
On this occasion, a mountain biking accident during the August summer break which resulted in him fracturing his left elbow, had additional consequences.
Wolff has revealed that in bracing himself for the fall, his left knee gave way, leading to the ligament damage, and the need to now face surgery given how the joint was initially weakened eight years ago.
The 51-year-old Austrian will definitely miss the race at Suzuka, and he is mulling over whether to attend the following grand prix in Qatar a fortnight later due to the fact he will be on crutches.
It is not the first cycling accident Wolff has been involved in as in 2014, whilst riding along the Danube in Budapest with several Mercedes colleagues, a crash led to him fracturing his right shoulder, collarbone, elbow, and wrist.
The ACL repair will result in Wolff missing his fourth race since 2013, after opting not to attend the 2019 Brazilian GP, as well as last year’s Japanese and São Paulo GPs.
Wolff will be replaced on the pit wall by Jerome D’Ambrosio, who joined Mercedes earlier this year as driver development director.
The former F1 racer, who competed with Marussia in 2011 and drove for Lotus in the 2012 Italian GP, primarily competed in Formula E from 2014 to 2020 before becoming deputy team principal and later team boss of Venturi.
