The big maneuvers continue at Mercedes
Toto Wolff is beginning to gain influence at Mercedes AMG: he has just pushed Nick Fry out to regain his position as CEO of the team.
Mercedes cannot be satisfied with the mediocre results recorded since its official return to F1: for a global manufacturer of its size, it is not acceptable to only win one race in three seasons. That is why significant changes are being implemented.
The most striking thing on the track was of course the recruitment of Lewis Hamilton at the expense of Michael Schumacher. But it is behind the scenes that the most important changes are taking place. It started with the recruitment of many technical directors from other teams, such as Geoff Willis or Aldo Costa, as early as the end of the 2011 season.
An additional step was taken a year later when Norbert Haug was pushed into retirement to allow the arrival of Toto Wolff as head of Mercedes Motorsport. He arrived by acquiring 30% of the team’s shares, which could therefore be an honorable way out for Mercedes as he has long been a partner of the star company through HWA, which is present in F3 and in DTM.
Today, he will become even more important in the functioning of the Mercedes AMG team, even if appearances are saved by the fact that Nick Fry will now be a “commercial consultant” at least until the end of 2014. However, this departure may be just the beginning. The next on the list could be the team principal, Ross Brawn. Indeed, McLaren has already announced that their technical director, Paddy Lowe, will leave his position at the end of the season. He may have been attracted by the Mercedes Board of Directors with the prospect of moving up the ladder to become the team principal.
