After a very successful but short stint at reigning world champions Mercedes, it’s been confirmed that executive director Paddy Lowe is leaving the team.
In just three and a half years at Mercedes, Lowe has achieved a hell of a lot with the Brackley-based outfit.
The team has been on a run of three consecutive constructors’ titles, with Lewis Hamilton taking two drivers’ championships and Nico Rosberg picking up one last year.
But, despite all of the success, it’s been officially announced that Lowe is leaving Mercedes and has now begun a period of gardening leave.
His future at Mercedes has been a hot topic in recent weeks and it’s expected that, after Mercedes, he’ll end up back at Williams.
That’d be an interesting turn-around, with Lowe starting his career in F1 at Williams in 1987 as joint head of electronics.
He only joined Mercedes in 2013 but has now left the reigning champions, in search of a new challenge, it seems…
Here’s what he had to say about his decision:
“I have had a fantastically successful and enjoyable three and a half years at Mercedes working with an incredible team of people. I am now looking forward to a new challenge and wish everyone well at Mercedes.”
Apparently in the short-term the technical leadership will be taken over by senior directors Aldo Costa (engineering director), Mark Ellis (performance director), Rob Thomas (chief operating officer) and Geoff Willis (technical director).
So, there’s a lot going on at Mercedes, following Nico Rosberg’s retirement and now Lowe leaving, seemingly bound for Williams (while Valtteri Bottas is set to swap from Williams to the Silver Arrows, interesting, that…).
There’s no denying the fact that Lowe’s departure is big news for Mercedes but it’ll be interesting to see how the team moves forward in the long term.