Mercedes championship-winning design chief John Owen set to depart
John Owen has been at Brackley since 2007.
One of the masterminds behind Mercedes’ eight Constructor Championship-winning cars is to step down, it has been announced.
John Owen has served as Director of Car Design since 2023 and Chief Designer before that, the British engineer has decided to take a break from F1 following a highly successful stint at Brackley.
Mercedes design chief to leave role
Owen’s work at Brackley predates Mercedes having initially joined in 2001 as an aerodynamicist. A job offer from Sauber took him to Switzerland before he returned to Brackley in 2007, this time as Principal Aerodynamicist for Honda.
Owen retained that role following the team change to Brawn GP, helping design the car that took the new outfit and Jenson Button to the titles, before becoming Chief Designer after Mercedes took over.
In that role, Owen helped design the cars that led Mercedes to an unprecedented era of success including eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships. He is also widely credited for being one of the masterminds behind dual-axis steering.
In 2023 and following a reshuffle within the Brackley team, his role changed to Director of Car Design. Now, having completed work on the W17, Owen has decided to step away from F1.
Mercedes said he will serve a period of gardening leave as he steps away from the team later this year and in his place current Engineering Director Giacomo Tortora will take over with Deputy Technical Director Simone Resta overseeing the group.
The Silver Arrows also wished “John all the very best for the future and thank him for the considerable role he has played in the team’s success.”
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If you were to believe paddock rumours, many suggest Mercedes will emerge as the strongest team following the regulation changes but Toto Wolff has insisted it is not that straightforward.
“Never confident. We are glass-half-empty people, never half-full,” he told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“It starts with the enemy in the house. McLaren has been the better team this year with a Mercedes power unit.
“So, if the power unit were to be superior, which we never say and we never feel entitled to say so, then you’ve got to beat Williams, you’ve got to beat McLaren, and you’ve got to beat Alpine.
“Some of them will have had more development time in the wind tunnel because they’ve not been placed very well in the Constructors’ Championship.
“Some will have come with innovation that maybe we haven’t spotted, etc, etc. So you can’t take anything for granted, even if our power unit, the Mercedes power unit, was the strongest.
“On top of that, these rumour mills are always dangerous, because someone, somewhere in another team or another power unit manufacturer or fuel supplier will think, ‘Well, we like to position you guys in the favourite role, but we are coming’, and that’s why we are not being carried away by any gossip that’s been discussed at the hairdresser.”
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