Mercedes AMG executive director Toto Wolff has denied media claims that Paddy Lowe is to replace Ross Brawn at the Brackley-based outfit.

Dismissing a report by the BBC claiming that Lowe would assume a role senior to merely being Technical Director at Mercedes and would be "effectively running the team on a day-to-day basis", Wolff, who only joined the Brackley outfit yesterday, said: "You can see that this is speculation that is coming up in some of the media. I think I would be aware about that. It's all speculation. Ross is there and is part of the leading team and I hope Ross is going to stay as long as possible."

Referring directly to Lowe, he added: "Paddy's a recognised person in the paddock and he has been with McLaren for 15 or 20 years and I read it in the paper. That is all I can tell you. In Formula One there is always a lot of speculation about personnel and people joining or not joining. There is nothing I can tell you at this stage."

While there might be nothing Wolff can tell us, the lack of a downright denial combined with the silence from McLaren - which issued a stern "no comment - and Lowe denotes that something is in the air.

The Austrian, revealing that he has yet to visit the team's Brackley HQ, said: "There are many intelligent people there and I'd like to meet them, speak to them and analyse and then make my conclusions. There is an organisation in place and I'd like to work with it."