Mercedes reveal F1 summer break staffing ISSUES

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Mercedes reveal F1 summer break staffing ISSUES

Mercedes have entered the summer break with a series of race wins

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 6 August 2024 19:57 Updated: 20:18

Mercedes have hinted at staffing issues during the summer break in a tongue-in-cheek social media post.

The Brackley-based outfit suffered a major blow earlier this year, with the departure of several key figures within their team, two of whom will join Ferrari.

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Mercedes performance director, Loic Serra, will depart the team to become the Scuderia’s head of chassis performance engineering.

Serra will also be joined by development director Jerome d’Ambrosio, who will work alongside Fred Vasseur as Ferrari’s deputy team principal, and head of their young driver academy.

Loic Serra and Jerome d'Ambrosio will leave Mercedes for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton will also be leaving for Ferrari next season

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These high profile defections were announced in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s departure, whose arrival at Ferrari is eagerly anticipated for 2025.

The seven-time world champion had endured a difficult few seasons at Mercedes, competing in 56 races without a win until Silverstone.

Mercedes’ performance has steadily improved however, and they have entered the summer break on a high, outscoring Ferrari in the last five races.

While the team will enjoy a much-needed rest during the summer shutdown, Mercedes’ social media account remains busy with the task of entertaining F1 fans.

In a recent post, they joked about their staffing issues, by creating their own summer break graphic.

The post was captioned: ‘when the graphic designer isn't replying to their messages’, and depicted an unfinished graphic celebrating Mercedes’ successes so far this season.

When the graphic designer isn't replying to their messages 👀 pic.twitter.com/QPzlAQkL7e
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) August 5, 2024

After a woeful start to the year, Mercedes have achieved three race victories with George Russell claiming his second career win in Austria.

The following weekend at Silverstone, Hamilton ended his winless streak and took an emotional home win at the British GP.

Mercedes were once again resurgent at Spa, with Russell initially winning the Belgian GP, only to be disqualified with his team-mate inheriting the victory instead.

The team are currently fourth in the constructors’ standings, but a gulf of points separates them from Ferrari in third.