Mercedes F1 Splits With the Man Behind its Bulletproof Power Unit

Ahead of the 2020 F1 season, the Mercedes F1 team is sorting out its team to tackle the year. To achieve that, the German outfit elected to shake up the senior management structure.

Triggering everything is the impending departure of Andy Cowell from his position as Managing Director. Meanwhile, everything else falls in place from July 1st onwards. Admittedly, Cowell’s desire to leave is not a big surprise for the German outfit, as he stated his intention back in January.

Cowell, Markus Schäfer and Toto Wolff have jointly defined Mercedes’ management structure, especially in the power unit area. With no Cowell, his Managing Director responsibilities will be redistributed among the senior leadership team. To ensure a smooth transition into the new role, Mercedes will make a number of internal appointments to these key positions.

Who forms part of this Mercedes management team?

Without Andy at the wheel, the team consists of: incumbent Managing Director Hywel Thomas. There is also, Project One Powertrain Director Adam Allsopp, who works under Schäfer. Other members include, Operations Director Richard Stevens; and Finance and IT Director, Ronald Ballhaus. As it turns out, Thomas’ responsibility lies within the F1 Power Unit department.

This new structure will ensure that the company performs in three key projects. This includes, the F1 Power Unit, the Formula E powertrain and the Mercedes-AMG One powertrain development and production.

The good news for Mercedes is that this not the last they sees of Andy Cowell. According to reports, he will work alongside Thomas to ease the transition process. He will also act as a consultant to Mercedes-Benz AG on a major future project until at least early 2021.

Cowell was one of the brains behind the team’s dominant power unit. So with his departure, it is not known how this will affect the Mercedes F1 team in the long run.