Ahead of Christmas and on the key day itself, millions of people across the United Kingdom choose to wear a festive jumper, to the extent that some view it as a British Christmas tradition.
One person who finds wearing a Christmas jumper totally bizarre is Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who recently admitted that it’s a “weirdo” thing to do.
Wolff revealed to Mercedes during a team talk that Christmas jumpers aren’t worn in his home country of Austria, as they “are a bit different”.
However, he shared with the Silver Arrows that he thinks they look “really good”.
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“You know, in Austria we are a bit different, we don’t have these weirdo Christmas things you have here on the island,” Wolff quipped, during his end-of-season team talk at the Brackley base.
“So, we don’t wear these jumpers. It looks really good but we don’t have them in there.”
After Wolff revealed that he doesn’t wear Christmas jumpers, Lewis Hamilton comically asked him whether he puts on his lederhosen’s instead.
Lederhosen’s are typically worn during the Oktoberfest but are still seen throughout the year in Austria.
Wolff doesn’t wear his lederhosen’s during the festive period either, as “it’s too cold”.
“No, it’s too cold for lederhosen’s. I wear them in the summer,” joked Wolff.
Despite enduring another challenging season, Wolff was at least able to congratulate the team on claiming second in the Constructors’ Championship, after fending off a late charge by Ferrari.
Whilst the Germans want to be at the top of the standings rather than in second, it’s still better than they achieved in 2022, where they found themselves behind both Red Bull and Ferrari.
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The biggest disappointment of Mercedes’ 2023 campaign was that it was winless, whilst Hamilton has now gone two years without tasting victory.
To try and take the fight to Red Bull and get back to winning ways next year, the Silver Arrows are planning on introducing another new concept.
However, unlike the new concept, which was introduced at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, this one is being designed from scratch, in a bid to avoid any of their weaknesses from the past two seasons carrying over into 2024.