Autosport revealed ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix that Mercedes had hired former Red Bull chief operating officer and human resources chief Poole as a new special adviser.

Her role is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Mercedes’ current infrastructure and make recommendations on where it can be improved.

As the German manufacturer continues its efforts to return to the forefront of F1, Wolff praised Poole’s input, which included “forensic profiles” of the best targets in the paddock.

“Jayne is someone I’ve admired for the past 10 years, I’ve known him 10 years ago and I’ve always had a very respectful relationship with him,” Wolff said in an exclusive interview with the Mercedes team. .

“She works for a competitor, but you can respect someone who works for a competitor and acknowledge their performance. In my opinion, her role at Red Bull has been a huge part of the team’s success over the past few years.

“The relationship came to an end, as many relationships naturally end. I wanted to hire Jayne for a long time, but it was never an option. Then it became now.

“She’s a great addition. She has a lot of expertise, she’s a great psychologist, she’s seen another organisation, she knows almost everyone and she’s created for all the good people in Formula 1 Forensic files. Having her eyes is a very, very strong advantage of the organization.”

Mercedes-AMG Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff at the team principals press conference

photographer: motorsport pictures

While Wolff has helped Mercedes to eight consecutive F1 world doubles, he said having an outsider like Poole on board was crucial to helping the team adapt and grow.

“Every now and then, if an organization matures and follows its processes and its strategy, and it’s successful, you need to get an outside perspective and you need to adjust that,” Wolf said of leveraging those who understand how other groups operate. When people say work.

“You don’t want to reinvent it, but you want to think about whether yesterday’s assumptions are still competitive enough in the future. So it’s beneficial to have someone come in with fresh eyes and look at it in a very neutral way.

“So, sometimes, even in a successful organization, you need to parachute good outsiders because they can help you take the next step.”