27/01/2023
NEWS STORY
Helmut Marko believes that James Vowles move to Williams is a sign of tension within the Mercedes camp.
If nothing else, F1 and Liberty Media's strongly worded letter to Mohammed Ben Sulayem pushes the somewhat tiresome antics of the likes of Toto Wolff and Christian Horner into the wings.
Speaking to The Times recently, the Mercedes boss claimed that Horner is obsessed with him.
"I am living in his head rent-free," declared the Austrian. "Every second that I spend on talking about Horner is a waste of time in my life," he added.
Of course, other than Horner, Red Bull has its Lord High Executioner, Helmut Marko who tends to get into everyone's heads.
Speaking to sport1.de, Marko has suggested that Vowles move to Williams isn't so much about creating a Mercedes B-team, but rather an indication of unrest within the Brackley camp.
Asked if he was concerned at the possibility of Williams becoming Mercedes 'back-up', the Austrian replied: "No, I have completely different information.
"Vowles went of his own accord and - so it is said - even takes good engineers with him," he added. "My sources tell me that's why the mood at Mercedes is so tense."
While sections of the media are already stoking the flames in terms of the potential for George Russell to get his feet further under the table at Brackley, in much the same way as they are building the hype around the situation at Red Bull in terms of the 'threat' to Sergio Perez from Daniel Ricciardo, this is what we should come to expect in this age of the fabricated controversy-driven Drive to Survive.
Indeed, despite his claim of tension within the team and that Vowles has taken good engineers with him, Marko admits: Mercedes will be our biggest challenger when it comes to defending our title."