Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes suffer a huge blow ahead of the new F1 season

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team have been dealt a serious blow ahead of the new season with the impending departure of chief strategist James Vowles to become team principal of Williams.

Sportsmail understands that the 43-year-old engineer’s departure will be announced later today.

Toto Wolff, boss of Mercedes, is due to speak in a Zoom press conference at 1pm this afternoon to address the Vowles situation.

His departure is a serious blow for Lewis Hamilton (pictured, left) and his Mercedes team

Vowles has been an ever-present at the summit of the scene during Mercedes’ years of dominance, and in fact stretching back to the Brawn championship success of 2009. 

His departure is major headache as the Silver Arrows look to claim back the ground they lost to Red Bull and Max Verstappen last year.

Vowles will take up the position vacated by Jost Capito, who left Williams last month after two years in charge. 

The German was brought in by investment group Dorilton Capital when they bought the team from the Williams family, headed by Sir Frank Williams, in the summer of 2020.

Mercedes were looking to claim back the ground they lost to Red Bull and Max Verstappen