Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has said he would be willing to let someone else take the spot as team chief and has left the door open for James Vowles, who is leaving the team as chief strategist to be the new Williams team principal.
The Austrian team principal also owns 33% of the team and has said that is a much more important role. As quoted by Crash.net, he explained:
“I’ve always been very open about how I felt going forward. I’ve made a step beyond the actual employment and my role within the team of being a shareholder is a long-term decision.
“I keep introspecting of how much I can contribute to the organization, and if one day I believe that there are shortcomings in an area, be it on the sporting, technical or commercial side or in politics, I would not hesitate for a second about appointing someone to that area of finding someone who could take over what I do.
“Because as a co-shareholder, my main interest is that the team prospers and that we are winning on track. That is 90 percent of what I do and the other 10 percent is business or financial development of the company.”
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When asked if Wolff would ever bring Vowles back, he didn’t shoot the idea down and only had positive things to say. He continued:
“Never say never because he is great.
“I hope that he is going to have a long career as team principal at Williams and hopefully we see him in the press conferences after successful weekends. He could have a 10-year stint there.
“You just need to let the bird fly out and do his own thing, and not at that stage anticipating that he is going to come back.”
