With James Volwes gone, the atmosphere would be tense at Mercedes, according to Helmut Marko
In the German press, Red Bull's sports advisor stated that there could be consequences at Mercedes following the departure of their strategist to Williams.
The 2023 Formula 1 season has not even started yet, and the psychological conflicts between the different teams are already heating up again. At the beginning of this year, one of the major news items in F1 was the surprising departure of Mercedes’ chief strategist, James Volwes, who took on the role of team director at Williams, replacing Jost Capito. As a historical figure within the Mercedes F1 team, Volwes was actually the designated successor to Toto Wolff as the director of Mercedes F1.
After this announcement, the Austrian leader seemed to have been caught off guard. Although it was a blow to the organization of Mercedes, Wolff had declared that this departure would not have any impact on the team’s performance and that the internal resources were sufficient. To this day, there is still an empty slot in the Mercedes F1 organizational chart.
According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s sports advisor, Volwes’ departure will have significant consequences for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s team. « I have obtained information from various sources. According to them, Volwes would have left on his own and even brought some Mercedes engineers with him to Williams. My sources also informed me that the atmosphere at Mercedes is tense because of this. »
Nevertheless, according to Marko, this situation should not affect the performance of the grey single-seaters in the short term. « Let’s wait and see. Mercedes will mainly be impacted operationally, not in terms of car performance. They will represent our most serious competitor in defending our titles this year. »
