Toto Wolff appoints Bradley Lord as Mercedes deputy team principal

Mercedes has announced a change in leadership structure, with Toto Wolff appointing a deputy team principal.

Mercedes has appointed Bradley Lord to serve as deputy team principal, stepping up his involvement in the Brackley-based squad’s leadership structure.

Mercedes confirms Bradley Lord appointment

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Mercedes’ long-time chief communications officer, Bradley Lord, who has also served as an official team representative in recent years, is to become Toto Wolff’s deputy as team principal.

This appointment is to take effect immediately, with Lord stepping up to work alongside Wolff at the helm of the team’s operations at the Japanese Grand Prix next week.

This isn’t a major shift in responsibilities for Lord, who has become an ingrained part of the senior leadership of Mercedes in recent years, with his role having expanded beyond that of what is usually expected of a communications lead.

The team has explained the decision as being made to support Wolff in his roles as CEO and team principal and “strengthens the organisation at a time of sustained growth”.

“Over the past decade, the team’s scale, complexity, and operations have expanded significantly,” the team said in a statement.

“As the sport continues to accelerate globally, the team’s leadership structure is evolving to ensure responsibilities are distributed efficiently across the senior leadership group – reflecting the model seen across much of the grid.”

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Lord will be known to fans as the voice representing Mercedes on weekends where Wolff hasn’t been in attendance, having made frequent contributions to the likes of Sky Sports F1 on these occasions.

He is also highly visible in garage shots, usually standing alongside Wolff while watching the on-track action.

He has been with the team since 2011, initially joining Daimler as a communications manager after being head of communications at Renault. His role has since evolved to lead Mercedes’ communications direction, which he will continue to do, with Adam McDaid serving as head of media.

Lord will also continue to play an integral role in Mercedes’ sustainability programme, as well as working with Gwen LaGrue on the young driver development programme.

As such, his realigned job title is a formalisation of his actual role within Mercedes, rather than being a major change in responsibilities.

“With the growth of our team and F1, the scope of our operations and associated responsibilities at a senior level has grown significantly,” Wolff said of the appointment.

“We have therefore taken this opportunity to put in place a change that has effectively been operating in practice for some time.

“While my role and overall responsibilities will not change one millimetre, Bradley’s work as Deputy Team Principal will further enhance the capability of our leadership group and provide continued support for me as our Team Principal and CEO.

“Bradley is a dedicated and long-serving member of our organisation who has played an important part in the team becoming the most successful of the modern era. Aligning our structure in this way ensures our leadership group can focus fully on the areas where they can add the greatest value and is optimised to meet the demands of a rapidly growing sport.”

With Lord stepping up into his newly defined role, Mercedes joins Ferrari and McLaren in having a split-leadership structure: Ferrari has a deputy team principal in Jerome D’Ambrosio, reporting to Fred Vasseur, while McLaren team boss Andrea Stella works alongside CEO Zak Brown.

It’s a similar story at several other teams, such as Alpine with Steve Nielsen and Flavio Briatore, Audi with Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, and Racing Bulls with Peter Bayer and Alan Permane.

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