Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from the next Formula One race in Japan, the PA news agency has learned. (More Motorsport News)
It is understood that Wolff바카라s decision to miss the race in Suzuka on April 7 was taken before the start of the new season and is not connected to the team바카라s performance in Australia.
Wolff admitted after Sunday바카라s race at Melbourne바카라s Albert Park that it is 바카라fair바카라 to question his future as team principal following Mercedes바카라 troubling weekend.
Lewis Hamilton qualified only 11th and the worst start to his 18-season career was confirmed when his engine expired on lap 17, while team-mate George Russell was seventh when he crashed out.
Wolff, who lives in Monaco, will be on the intercom remotely throughout the race weekend in Japan 바카라 with his duties at the circuit to be divided between senior members of the Brackley team.
The Austrian also missed last year바카라s Japanese GP and the ensuing round in Qatar, following knee surgery. On those occasions the team바카라s driver development director Jerome d바카라Ambrosio was handed the effective on-site team principal baton.
But it emerged earlier this month that D바카라Ambrosio is set to end his association with the team when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Wolff admitted in an interview with the PA news agency last year that he intends to scale back his on-track presence in the coming years.
The 52-year-old, who has been in charge of Mercedes since 2013, recently signed a new three-year deal to remain as chief executive and team principal of the F1 operation he co-owns with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ola Kallenius.
Mercedes won an unprecedented eight consecutive constructors바카라 titles between 2014 and 2021 but they have tasted just one victory from their last 48 outings.
Fresh from his harrowing accident in Melbourne, Russell is expected to be at the team바카라s HQ in Northamptonshire later this week as Mercedes search for solutions to their underwhelming start to the season.
Russell failed to make it to the end of Sunday바카라s race after hitting the wall on the penultimate lap in his pursuit of Fernando Alonso.
The double world champion was adjudged to have driven dangerously by the stewards and was demoted from sixth to eighth following a post-race 20-second penalty.
However, the 42-year-old protested his innocence in a message posted on social media.
Alonso wrote: 바카라A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds.
바카라I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated.
바카라In F1, with over 20 years of experience, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.
바카라We never drive at 100 per cent every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tyres, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising. We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field.바카라
