Sky Sports F1 Q&A: Ted Kravitz on Mercedes' management restructure

Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz tries to make sense of the ongoing speculation that the appointment of Toto Wolff as Mercedes' Executive Director could spark further management upheaval, with rumours rife that Paddy Lowe could arrive to replace Ross Brawn...

Why might Lauda not want to keep Brawn?
TK: "I don't think it's that Brawn has done anything wrong, but there are two aspects to look at here. Firstly, whatever has been happening under Mercedes with Brawn at the helm since they won the Championship as Brawn in 2009 hasn't worked. They've just had the solitary win with Nico Rosberg in China in 2012, although there are good reasons why they haven't been able to achieve more. They've been working under a smaller budget than the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari and they've been integrating the team into the larger Mercedes family. But Lauda may consider that the new broom philosophy should extend to more people than just Norbert Haug [who left at the end of 2012]. There is a school of thought - one to which I must stress I don't subscribe, and I don't know if Lauda does - that Brawn needs a big rule change to win Championships like he did in 2009, or that he needs everything tipped in their favour like at Ferrari in the early 2000s to dominate. "This may explain why some people might not rate Brawn. But F1 is about to have its most significant rule change in a long while with the new engine and fuel consumption formula coming in for 2014. So you'd certainly want a lateral thinking technical leader like Brawn in your team next year - not to mention a man with the sharpest brain when it comes to race strategy." So, to return to your earlier point, just what will Lewis Hamilton make of all this?
TK: "He certainly won't be happy with the disruption to the team's equilibrium just two weeks before pre-season testing starts in Jerez. Any big change at the top of the team is unsettling and disturbing by definition. But I think there are two things that might mean that Hamilton isn't too worried. Firstly, it was Lauda who made all the moves in convincing Lewis to join Mercedes in the first place. The rumour is that Niki sealed the deal with Hamilton by text over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. "So Hamilton has signed up for Lauda's vision of where he wants to take Mercedes - wherever that takes the technical leadership of the team. Secondly, Hamilton knows this is a long term project for him and that if something hasn't been working with a certain management team in charge, it doesn't make sense to keep on going with the same management and not change things. "But on the other hand, there'd be another couple of things the neutral would say about this. Firstly, Lauda's previous attempt at team management didn't end particularly well with the Jaguar team being sold by Ford to Red Bull for £1. And also Lewis has, during his time at McLaren, seen from the outside how effective Brawn can be as a team boss. I remember when he announced his Mercedes deal, he made a point of saying he was looking forward to working under Brawn and that he respects him. "So if Brawn doesn't stay for whatever reason then I would imagine Hamilton will, deep down, be little bit disappointed. Finally, what it boils down to is that in recent seasons, the Mercedes car hasn't been good enough - and that must be down to the design team. Ever since the double diffuser, their design team has not managed to produce the goods. "Last year's foray down the double DRS route, while it helped them early on in the season, ultimately was a dead end. All Lewis needs is a well-designed car. He already knows the Mercedes