Rome's taxi drivers counter Wolff's saying: "They drive as slowly as Mercedes here"

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is known for his eloquence, but he might have thought twice about this snappy saying:

After World Champion Max Verstappen once again went into Rambo mode in Barcelona and crashed into George Russell's car, Wolff joked in a post-race interview that the Dutchman drove "like an angry taxi driver in Rome"...

In the age of the internet and globalization, it naturally didn't take long for the comment to make the rounds in the Eternal City, more specifically among the Rome Taxi Drivers Association, who subsequently accused the Silver Arrows boss of a lack of political correctness and the spread of "false stereotypes."

Taxi boss rages: Rome "much worse than an F1 track"

At least not without a fine pinch of Italian humor: "We drive as slowly as Mercedes here in Rome," joked Nicola Di Giacobbe, the spokesman for a taxi union, in reference to the Silver Arrows' current sporting drought.

Wolff also had to listen to the president of the taxi association, Loreno Bittarelli: "We're better than Formula 1 drivers, who wouldn't even survive an hour in Rome's city traffic," the Italian ranted in the Corriere della Sera . "We drive between construction sites, motorcycles, e-scooters, and tourist buses. Rome is a jungle, much worse than a Formula 1 track."

The cliché of the aggressive taxi driver, as per Wolff's example, is, however, a myth. "We're the first ones who don't want to have accidents, because otherwise we'll lose the entire working day," Bittarelli says.

At least Wolff can still hope for a little mercy in Ferrari country, since he's been the team boss of the only Italian in Formula 1 since this season. Kimi Antonelli is likely to put in a good word for the Viennese with his fellow countrymen – otherwise, it remains to be seen whether Wolff will be able to get a taxi the next time he's in the Italian capital...