Williams executive director and shareholder Toto Wolff will move to Mercedes, replacing Norbert Haug as head of Mercedes Benz Motorsport.
The Austrian currently holds shares in the Williams F1 team, and will keep them. A team statement said "Toto will be relinquishing his seat on the company's board of directors, but will retain his shareholding." The move comes as not a complete surprise, he already co-owns the HWA that runs Mercedes-Benz DTM programme.
Former Motorsport boss Norbert Haug quit last year. Wolff will move into his previous role and take on those responsibilities. It is not yet clear how the 41-year-old will work with new non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, but it is thought that he will split his time between the DTM and Formula 1 campaigns.
Wolff purchased 10% of the Williams F1 Team's shares in 2009, upping that to 16.3 when it began to float on the stock exchange. When the teams chairman Adam Parr quit, he was promoted to Executive Director and stand in Team Principal when Sir Frank Williams was unable to attend race weekends.
Wolff confirmed the news, saying "Mercedes is one of the most important participants in motorsport worldwide, I am not only a big fan, but also a long standing friend and enthusiast of the brand.
"I am looking forward to the challenge and, along with preparing for a successful racing season, also want to focus on the targeted promotion of new talent.
"I am leaving Williams on good terms and I will miss the team and friends I have made there. I'd also like to wish Frank and the whole of Williams the best of luck for the future."
“Together with Niki Lauda, we further develop our motorsport activities and guide our Silver Arrows into the next era”.
The Austrian currently holds shares in the Williams F1 team, and will keep them. A team statement said "Toto will be relinquishing his seat on the company's board of directors, but will retain his shareholding." The move comes as not a complete surprise, he already co-owns the HWA that runs Mercedes-Benz DTM programme.
Former Motorsport boss Norbert Haug quit last year. Wolff will move into his previous role and take on those responsibilities. It is not yet clear how the 41-year-old will work with new non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, but it is thought that he will split his time between the DTM and Formula 1 campaigns.
Wolff purchased 10% of the Williams F1 Team's shares in 2009, upping that to 16.3 when it began to float on the stock exchange. When the teams chairman Adam Parr quit, he was promoted to Executive Director and stand in Team Principal when Sir Frank Williams was unable to attend race weekends.
Wolff confirmed the news, saying "Mercedes is one of the most important participants in motorsport worldwide, I am not only a big fan, but also a long standing friend and enthusiast of the brand.
"I am looking forward to the challenge and, along with preparing for a successful racing season, also want to focus on the targeted promotion of new talent.
"I am leaving Williams on good terms and I will miss the team and friends I have made there. I'd also like to wish Frank and the whole of Williams the best of luck for the future."
His wife Susie is a Scottish racing driver and raced for Mercedes in DTM. There were suggestions circulating that she would also move from Williams to Mercedes, where she is their current development driver. She denied this on Twitter, saying "Just to clarify, I am a proud member of the Williams F1 Team & there was never any question of me leaving.
Very happy for my husband, we will be fighting him hard on track!"
Mercedes Benz Chairman Dieter Zetche said on the move by Wolff "With Toto Wolff, we have gained for our Formula One team not only
an experienced motorsport specialist, but also a longstanding enthusiast
of the Mercedes-Benz brand”, enthused Zetche.
No comments:
Post a Comment