No directorial waltz between Mercedes, McLaren and Lotus
Active on the transfer market, Mercedes would have sought to obtain the services of Paddy Lowe, technical director at McLaren, to replace Ross Brawn at the helm of its team. However, Lowe is expected to stay in Woking where some were considering James Allison as his replacement. Also targeted by Mercedes, the current technical director of Lotus could also resist the lure and stay in Enstone.
Following the officialization of Toto Wolff’s arrival as executive director of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, where the Austrian also took a significant minority financial stake, restructuring could continue on the Brackley side, Sport Bild mentioning German team’s interest in Paddy Lowe, current technical director of McLaren. Toto Wolff’s arrival at Mercedes is also said to be a factor, according to the German newspaper which claims that the British engineer was initially in talks to join Williams.
The BBC claimed that this put Ross Brawn, the current director of the Mercedes AMG team, in the hot seat, a piece of information immediately denied by Toto Wolff during a press teleconference: “It would be absurd to talk about replacing anyone. These are speculations in the media, I believe I would know if not. Ross [Brawn] is part of the team and I hope he will stay as long as possible. I admire what he has done, his track record speaks for itself.”
On James Allen’s blog, Ross Brawn also reassures about his future at Mercedes: (e) I am the team principal. I am responsible for sports, technical matters and competition. » If the British intends to stay with the German team for a long time, he seems to be preparing his succession: (e) I know all the future projects of the team and I hope to be a part of it for a very long time. […] Mercedes wants a long-term commitment and obviously, with many new faces, I want to see how things go before making a final long commitment. For this, we need to put things in place. It’s a bit like my succession at Ferrari. When I decided to stop at Ferrari, we devised a succession plan. […] I have discussed with Paddy [Lowe], we know the situation. I plan to stay there for a long time. »
Ross Brawn has several reasons to stay involved with Mercedes: “We are entering a truly exciting period. Obviously, the fact that Lewis is joining us was a huge catalyst for all of us, a great motivation. I am starting to see the effects of the changes we made a year ago. The car was designed under the direction of Aldo Costa, he did a fantastic job and I am very excited about it. Like anyone in this world, if we are excited about what we are doing, we continue to do it. […] Many things are now behind us: we have restructured the wind tunnel and […] this year, we will reap the rewards of the initiatives we have taken,” says Ross Brawn on jamesallenonf1.com.
Anyway, this is enough to reassure Lewis Hamilton who spoke with Ross Brawn during his recent visit to the team’s headquarters: “He assured me that he was here to stay and to work as hard as he could with me and the rest of the team. It gives me as much confidence as I need. Obviously, when I made my decision, he was definitely on the pro list. He has had a great career, great successes, and is an important part of the team. We need this iconic figure to guide us to success.”
As for Paddy Lowe, during his press conference call, Toto Wolff did not formally deny the interest he could have in him: Paddy is a well-known figure in the paddock, he has been with McLaren for 15 or 20 years. I read that in the newspapers, that’s all I can say. Obviously, in Formula 1, there is always a lot of speculation about people coming and going, but there is nothing I can say at the moment. According to the Daily Mail, however, Paddy Lowe would have been offered a salary increase at McLaren during a meeting with Ron Dennis, who not only wants to keep the services of one of the team’s pillars for 20 years, but also prevent other executives from following suit, as was the case with Pat Fry who, since leaving Ferrari, has stripped McLaren of some of its elements: Dennis offered Lowe a raise without devaluing the company’s salary scale. He was presented with the argument that he would prefer to continue working purely on engineering issues rather than taking on a much broader role, which involves hiring or firing people, balancing budgets, advances Jonathan McEvoy, a journalist for the Daily Mail.
Paddy Lowe should therefore not join Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, which does not seem to bother the British driver: “He is at McLaren, and as far as I am aware, it should stay that way,” commented the 2008 champion for Sky Sports News. “I know they have great people [at Mercedes], and it is up to me and the people here to use them and get the most out of them.”
Mercedes would however already have another target in sight, namely James Allison, the current technical director of the Lotus team. While Paddy Lowe was rumored to be leaving, the rumor was that Allison would be his successor at Woking. A source cited by Speed Week however assures that it is Mercedes that is the most active in poaching James Allison, in vain: « [Niki] Lauda calls Allison every day, but James’ contract is solid. He also does not want to leave [Lotus]. »
