Sawt Falasteen - Mercedes chief designer Owen to leave F1 team

Owen, 52, joined the British-based outfit in 2007, when it was Honda, and has been a key figure in championships won under the name Brawn in 2009 and Mercedes from 2010.

Brawn GP clinched both the drivers' and teams' championships in 2009 and the team won seven drivers' and eight constructors' championships as Mercedes from 2014 to 2021.

"We can confirm that John Owen, our director of car design, has decided that now is the right time to take a break from F1 and that he will be leaving the team later this year to begin a period of gardening leave, after assuring the transition to his successor," Mercedes said in a statment.

"John has been with our Brackley team since 2007 and played a considerable role in our success."

Mercedes said Owen's role would be filled by Giacomo Tortora, currently engineering director, while deputy technical director Simone Resta will oversee the group.

Pre-season testing starts in Bahrain next month, ahead of the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia on March 8.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST