In a move that marks the end of a defining era for the sport’s most successful modern team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team has confirmed that its long-serving director of car design, John Owen, will leave the team during the 2026 season.
The Briton, whose tenure dates back to the squad’s origins as Honda in 2007, was the principal architect behind the chassis that powered Mercedes to eight consecutive Constructors’ World Championships and seven Drivers’ titles from 2014 to 2021.
His decision to step down follows the sign-off of the 2026 W17, the 17th car he has overseen for the manufacturer, and he will remain with the Brackley-based outfit until mid-season to ensure a smooth transition.
A team statement confirmed the departure, stating, “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”. The statement added, “He has been with our Brackley team since 2007 and played a considerable role in our success. He has been a key part of nine Constructors’ Championships across the time he has worked here”.
After assisting with the handover, Owen will commence a period of gardening leave, with no information yet revealed about his next career move.
Owen’s remarkable career with the team spans its multiple incarnations. He joined as a principal aerodynamicist under Honda ownership and stayed through its dramatic rebirth as Brawn GP, contributing to its against-all-odds championship double in 2009.
Upon Mercedes’s full works entry in 2010, he was appointed chief designer, a role he held until a 2023 promotion to director of car design.
This restructuring, part of a wider technical reshuffle led by Technical Director James Allison, was designed to allow Owen to refocus purely on car design rather than administrative duties under Formula 1’s cost cap regulations.
Beyond his technical ingenuity, which included refining the innovative but banned Dual-Axis Steering (DAS) system in 2020, Owen is credited as a guardian of the team’s internal culture. In a 2021 interview, he highlighted this as Mercedes’s unique weapon.
“Lots of people say they have a good culture but they kind of don’t,” Owen explained. “People who join us find it a really, really great place, a really inspirational place almost to the point where they sometimes don’t believe it’s true for a while… I think people that leave get a bit of shock”.
He described a “no-blame” environment where taking calculated risks is encouraged, a philosophy he saw as critical to the team’s sustained innovation and success.
Mercedes has moved swiftly to name Owen’s successor, opting for an internal promotion. Engineering Director Giacomo Tortora will step up to become the new Director of Car Design, reporting into Deputy Technical Director Simone Resta.
This continuity in leadership is aimed at maintaining stability as the team navigates a critical period, having struggled for performance since the 2022 regulatory shift and now preparing for another major rules overhaul in 2026.
The departure of John Owen severs a key link to Mercedes’s period of utter dominance and underscores a significant transformation within the team’s technical hierarchy.