Roman interviews ex-F1 team owner Walter Wolf  Words and images by Roman Klemm

A lot of dust was stirred up in Formula One in 1977 by a man who appeared on the scene (although the previous year was marred by a failed collaboration with Frank Williams) from almost out of nowhere; Walter Wolf - 'Austro-Canadian millionaire' as Austrian journalist Heinz Pruller liked to call him.

Born somewhere between Graz (Austria) and Maribor (Yugoslavia), this playboy was, and still is, a prototype of a 'self-made man' who managed to make it from a dishwasher to a multiple-millionaire". Without any means, this son of a Swabian father and a Slovenian mother left the then Yugoslavia for Canada at the age of 20. He returned to Europe, first in 1964 as a representative of the Canadian Olympic downhill team, and then in the 1970s as a businessman, intending to invest in motorsport and automotive industry.

He made his millions in the sector of oil production, but it was his passion which brought him to F1, not the desire to multiply his wealth. He competed with his own team and car for only three years, the first of them being the most successful. His driver Jody Scheckter won on their debut in Argentina, then triumphed in the most important event of the year in Monaco, and at the end of the year added a final icing on Wolf's sweet cake of 1977 by winning his home race in Canada. After another two years, Walter Wolf left the sport and took part in public motoring events only rarely. In early 2022, friends of Walter Wolf Racing, Walter Falbersoner and Wolf-F1 owner Rudolf Ramml, managed to lure Wolf back to the Alps. Roman Klemm had the rare opportunity to talk to him there.

(A little knowledge of the sport's history and some circumstances is rather necessary in such an interview, because Mr. Wolf mentions other personalities most of time by first name only.)

For a normal F1 fan, you appeared in the 1976 Grand Prix as a completely unknown person. Have you had a relationship with racing before?
Sure. Car racing has fascinated me since I was four-years-old. In the late '50s I went to Monza on my own. I climbed the fences and used holes in them until I reached the paddock illegally.

But then you left Europe.
Yes, I left for Canada in the early 1960s. My only asset at the time was an aircraft pilot's license. I then returned home to Austria at the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, and it was only yesterday that I went to see the original ski slope for the first time since then. I was a fanatical skier and today I feel it in my knees

I was surprised to learn that your engagement in Formula 1 did not begin in 1976 via that inglorious co-operation with Williams.
Yes, few people today know that I was a member of a planned super-team that we wanted to start with Jochen (Rindt) and Bernie (Ecclestone) in 1971. Jochen and I were great friends and we often skied together. I still have a very good and frequent relationship with Bernie. He's still a great guy - he barely walks, but he has a small child at home. Jochen's death meant the end of our dreams.

How came the connection to Frank Williams?
Then I pursued a different goal. I just thought I could beat Ferrari with another Italian brand! At the time, I was a major shareholder of Lamborghini, and it was my personal ego-trip that I would promote this company. They needed my money, but in the end they decided otherwise and against entering F1. At the same time, I met Paolo, their designer (Gian Paolo Dallara), whom I still consider to be the most versatile car designer ever. He told me that he knew a racer who would need my support - Frank (Williams). So, since 1975 I have financed several of his engines - in the end there were 15 of them. Then we bought the Hesketh team and threw ourselves into this joint project. Paolo also designed my Formula 3 car and helped me with our CanAm car that Chris (Amon) and Gilles (Villeneuve) drove. I still respect Frank, but the year 1976 was a chaos that did not have the smell of success for the future. Somehow, he couldn't keep the money together.

You decided to start your own team, for which you got really top staff.
I wasn't just a sponsor - I knew the scene. I knew who I needed. Look, there's no point in starting a new team and filling it with people who are just learning. So, I took the mechanics with me from Frank, Harvey (Postlethwaite, designer) and I actually wanted even Patrick (Head, technician). Then I made a deal with Peter (Warr, Lotus manager until then). Colin (Chapman, Lotus owner) hasn't spoken to me all year because of that coup. Well, I put Jody (Scheckter) in the cockpit, who was my best employee ever. Good team, right? That's the way it should be. When you go to a disco in the evening, you also drag the most beautiful girl out of it for the night and not some ugly bastard, right?

Did the sensationally successful outcome of the 1977 season surprise you?
It's been a great year. In the first race in Argentina, Jody simply drove on and on - until he finished first. A little luck also helped then, but in Monaco we really beat them all. And you can't imagine how it felt. This meant SOMETHING for a man like me who came from the poorest situation in Yugoslavia. Suddenly I was King of Monaco. I ruled around the harbour, Prince Rainier ruled above in his castle.

Even Enzo Ferrari recognised how good an organisation you put together.
Yes, it was nice that Wolf Racing was the first foreign team being allowed to test on its private track in Fiorano. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that he didn't do it just out of good will. Above all, he wanted to check on Jody closely. But I got along well with Commendatore and we often called. I once complained to him how stupidly we had lost a certain victory in Long Beach, and I vowed to make up for it in Monaco. That set him on fire. He shouted that Niki (Lauda) would definitely win in front of Carlos (Reutemann) in Monaco and that we could finish third, best case. He bet me a new car when we beat them there. We succeeded and he really sent me a new Ferrari! At that time, I was the first person to whom he gave a car - that is, for a few weeks till they sent me an invoice.

So you could be satisfied with the first year in F1?
Not really! Jody became vice-champion behind Niki - so we were the first of the losers and I don't like that. At that time, we could easily have won the title. Were it not for that bad luck a few laps before the finish in Long Beach. We actually won in Zolder as well, but they penalised us for some petty offense on the grid. And in Zeltweg we would have won as well if Jody hadn't been pushed off the track by Frank's wanker. (Patrick Neves' name is apparently erased from Wolf's memory).

Was it reasonable to enter only one car?
Why not? It was just logical for me. After all, only one driver can become world champion and not two, right?

What was the reason that Wolf Racing was not equally successful in 1978?
The reason was Ferrari. Jody and Harvey soon knew that their professional careers would lead them to Italy. Even then, I actually lost interest and sold all the scrap a year later to Emerson (Fittipaldi).

At the same time, the start of the 1979 season looked like a new fresh start with superstar James Hunt in the cockpit.
No, James wasn't interested anymore. Basically, he was already a retired driver, like Ickx in 1976. Ronnie's (Peterson) accident in Monza broke him. I saw it happen from the helicopter. I usually flew to the races with my own helicopter - it had the advantage that I was already sitting at home in the afternoon when the others were still trapped in traffic jams. We saw the starter crush everything. Patrese then pushed from right to front, James over-reacted, crashed into Ronnie and sent him into the barrier. Later he was sitting in our motorhome, he was shaking and he wanted to vomit.
Originally I wanted Gilles (Villeneuve) for the 1979 season. But the board of directors, which included Harvey, Peter and my wife at the time, ruled in James's favour. The British simply despised Franco-Canadians, and James brought a sponsorship of a million dollars from Olympus, which also played a role. But I fired him after Monaco anyway.

You probably didn't earn anything in Formula 1.
Are you serious? No, I didn't. Those few stickers from the sponsors on our car were enough to cover the supplies of tyres, oil and fuel.

Where do you live now and what about your interest in current motorsport?
I live mainly in Canada and Mexico. After 1979, I attended only about two to three Grand Prix, which I commented on for television. I register current events only superficially.