Mercedes Formula 1 head Toto Wolff believes the recent decision for a change of hands in the board of Daimler AG will keep stability in the German manufacturer’s F1 project.
Earlier this week, it was announced that longtime chairman of Daimler AG, Dieter Zetsche will step down from his role at the annual meeting in 2019 with the current Mercedes-Benz cars head Ola Kallenius taking over his place in the board for a five-year term.
Zetsche will have a cool-off period until 2021 after which he will be nominated to succeed Dr. Manfred Bischoff as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The German has been a prominent figures in F1 races for Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Kallenius is no stranger to the F1 paddock as well as he previously had a brief spell where he headed the HPP engine division in Brixworth and was also the managing director of Mercedes-AMG.
When asked during the Russian GP press briefing, Mercedes’ F1 head Wolff felt the decision taken by the board and to have Kallenius as the new chairman helps in the stability in F1 project considering the closeness of the Swede with the sport.
“Dieter and Ola Kallenius have been strong supporters of Formula One all these years,” said Wolff. “Ola has been on the board of the team since a long time, has been running Mercedes High Performance Engines before, and was the managing director of AMG.
“So, we have a very good relationship with the two of them and Dieter is not leaving. He’s just taking a cool-off period and coming back into the supervisory board and Ola, obviously, as the new CEO provides stability for our Formula One project.”
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton as well thanked Zetsche for helping him to be in the sport when he was young as he welcomed Kallenius in the bigger role with whom as well Hamilton has shared a good bond over the years.
