Mercedes have announced that their leading car designer, John Owen, will leave this season as Formula One enters the first year of a major change in regulations. Owen has played a key part in the enormous success Mercedes has enjoyed in the modern era when the team secured eight consecutive constructors’ championships.
There are no indications as yet that Owen intends to join another team, with Mercedes saying he will continue in his role until mid-season to manage the transition process, after which he will take a period of gardening leave and what the team described as “a break from F1”.
Mercedes will promote the engineering director, Giacomo Tortora, to become director of car design. Tortora already has a close working relationship with the technical director, James Allison, and the deputy technical director, Simone Resta, who oversee the group.
Owen has already been integral to Mercedes’ 2026 entry, the W17, which is the 17th car over which he has had design responsibility for the German marque in what has been a remarkable career.
He began in F1 with the Sauber team as an aerodynamicist and joined the Honda works team in 2007 as a principal aerodynamicist. He remained there to take his first of nine constructors’ titles when the team became Brawn in 2009 and was appointed as chief designer when Mercedes took over Brawn in 2010.
He was in the role as Mercedes went on to dominate F1 through the turbo hybrid era, winning eight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ championships between 2014 and 2021. In 2023 he was promoted to become director of car design. His abilities and talents were well known within the sport but Owen maintained a low public profile, his focus solely on delivering the best possible car.
“John has been with our Brackley team since 2007 and played a considerable role in our success,” Mercedes said in a statement. “He has been a key part of nine constructors’ championships across the time he has worked here. We wish John all the very best for the future and thank him for the considerable role he has played in the team’s success.”
The buildup to the new season continued apace meanwhile as the Audi team, which is entering F1 for the first time in the manufacturer’s history, unveiled the new livery for their car, the R26, at an event in Berlin on Tuesday evening.
Audi have taken over the Sauber team and are also manufacturing their own engine to the new regulations. The team will be led by the principal, Jonathan Wheatley, with Mattia Binotto, the former Ferrari principal, as head of the Audi F1 project, alongside the drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto.
The team issued a bold statement in Berlin, announcing: “Our goal is to win championships by 2030. We have a structured plan for a deliberate ascent.” It is no little ambition for the marque within a relatively short timeframe but one Wheatley felt was achievable.
“You have to be realistic about where you’re starting from, and you also have to be humble about the challenge that’s ahead of you,” he said. “You don’t beat teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren. You don’t just turn up and beat them because you’re Audi. That’s not how it works.
“You need a plan. Our plan is to be a challenger and then a competitor and then a champion. It’s important as a journey, and that people understand that journey.”
The team’s technical director, James Key, was similarly optimistic before they take the R26 to the track for the first time. “Seeing the ambition behind the team and the plan ahead, I like to think it is absolutely [realistic],” he said. “We’re giving ourselves some time because we’re realistic. We know that we haven’t got everything in place and we need to be absolutely on top immediately. It’s a very clear ambition, not just from us, but from the whole operation.”
The new F1 season begins in Melbourne on 8 March after three pre-season tests. The first will take place behind closed doors at Barcelona between 26 and 30 January. Then there will be two more in Bahrain, on 11 to 13 and 18 to 20 February.
