Ross Brawn leaves Mercedes

2014 is going to be a big year of change for F1 with the new engine regulations. But this is even more true for Mercedes, which has decided to overhaul its management structure in order to fight for the world title as quickly as possible.

The team leaves its future ex-leader the privilege of announcing that it was he who decided to leave: « The most important aspect of my decision to resign from my role as team director was to ensure that it was the right time for the team to secure its future successes. The succession plan we have put in place over the course of the year means that we are now ready to transition my current responsibilities to a new leadership team, composed of Toto and Paddy. Mercedes-Benz has invested heavily in personnel and infrastructure at Brackley and Brixworth. Thanks to our unified team approach that we have established between the two structures, the team is ideally positioned to succeed in 2014, and I am proud to have contributed to the foundation of these successes. »

It must be said that the Briton may no longer have had the motivation to continue evolving in a highly political environment, with the cumbersome presence of Niki Lauda as the non-executive chairman of the team. He could therefore decide to return to a structure 100% dedicated to F1, like McLaren or Williams. Indeed, since the acquisition of the Honda team, which led him to the title with a team in his name, he has had significant and very good relations with the engine manufacturer Honda, which is set to return to Woking in 2015. As for Williams, 2013 was a significant setback after the brief improvement in 2012, and a man of Ross Brawn’s caliber could only be an asset.

The position held by Ross Brawn will therefore be taken over by two men: Toto Wolff will oversee all the team’s commercial activities, while Paddy Lowe will focus on the technical aspect. This change was planned since last year when both men were recruited by Mercedes to compete at the top of the grid. The second place in the constructors’ championship achieved this year is certainly a great first step but far from sufficient in light of the massive investments made by the star-branded firm.

It can benefit from being the only top team to retain 100% of its driver duo, which can only be an advantage in the development of the 2014 car and adaptation to the change in technical regulations.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr