Rumbling behind the scenes?
The Mercedes Formula 1 team has had a year to quickly forget, but perhaps the poison cup was not completely empty after Abu Dhabi. Helmut Marko, CEO of rival Red Bull, says that the departure of James Vowles from Mercedes F1 has drawn a change on the team.
While Mercedes-AMG F1 was busy preparing for the new Formula 1 season, it had to deal with a bitter pill earlier this month. James Vowles, longtime chief strategist and one of the team’s top men, is leaving for Williams. There he becomes team boss, because Jost Capito has left his job at the British racing team. Dr. Helmut Marko, who is not averse to throwing mud at the competition, is not afraid that Williams will become a kind of Mercedes B-team. On the contrary; according to him, the change of Vowles is bad news for Mercedes.
Not just because it loses a talent with Vowles, but because, according to Marko, more has happened. “Vowles left of his own accord and even takes good technicians with him. According to my sources, this creates a tense atmosphere within Mercedes,” the Austrian explains to Sports1. Of course, Red Bull hopes to take advantage of this in the hunt for the second constructors’ title in a row. Still, Marko is not tempted into too much hope for a weakened Mercedes in 2023. “We’ll see, but I still think that Mercedes will soon be our biggest opponent in defending our title.”
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl