Former F1 driver Vitaly Petrov is shocked that Mercedes allowed its strategy boss James Vowles to become Williams’ new team principal. While some initially wondered if the strategy is to turn Williams into a Mercedes ‘B team’, others suspect Mercedes will in fact be significantly weakened by Vowles’ departure. So you can understand why Vowles went to Williams, but the question is how Mercedes will be without him. Perhaps it won’t be one person but several, but they must replace him with someone. According to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, however, Mercedes is well-placed to not overly suffer due to Vowles departure.

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