Who is replacing the absent Toto Wolff at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix?
The Mercedes team principal will skip this 🐠weekend in order to fix a troublesome knee ♛problem.
Wolff requires surgery on his cruciate ligament a🌞fter an injury sustained in a “training a🌄ccident”, it is reported.
Jerome D’Ambrosi🐎o 🎃and Bradley Lord will will act as Wolff’s replacements for the Suzuka event.
Wolff will return for Qatar (probably on crutches) on 𝓰Oc♔tober 6-8.
He has been in the wars this summer, sustaining an arm injury in a cycling acci𒐪dent while on a family holiday during the F1 breaꦰk.
Who is Bradley Lord?
A regular in the F1 paddock alongside Wolff, Lord is the team's communications director💫.
He occasionally features on the Sky F1 coverage, offering comment on Mercedes' sꦦt𝐆rategies.
Who is Jerome D’Ambrosio?
D’Ambrosio, a Belgian former racing driver who feat🐭ured in F1 from 2011-2012 with Marussia and Lotus𒁃, is now a key member behind-the-scenes at Mercedes.
D’Ambrosio inherited some of the responsibilities left behind by James Vow🌜les, who quit Mercedes to 𒁃become Williams team principal.
He had previously worked with Susie Wolff at the Venturi Formꦓula E team.
Woꩵlff said about D’Ambrosio earlier this year: “Jerome is taking over some of James Vowle🙈s’ topics.
“He’s looking after the young driver programme in close co-operation with [driver development chief Gwen Lagrue], who has been doi💜ng it very successfully over the lܫast few years.
“We are look🏅ing at grassroots motorsports from the early stages of go-karts and this is where Gwen is very active.
“He was the one worki🦹ng with James. Now, within the Brackley structure Jerome has taken that over.
♑“He’s🌺 looking at things and there’s plenty of scope that James did beyond the strategy work.
“I see Jerome growing in the organis🔯ation but, at this stage, tha🌳t’s his area.
“I have know🐲n Jerome a long time because,𒈔 back in the day, when he was in the Renault driver development [programme], I thought about managing him. It’s 15 or 20 years ago.
“We had a look again at him when he when he dropped out of the progra💛mme, so I’ve known꧙ him as a racing driver. But never from the human standpoint and never from the managerial side.
“When Susie offered him the option to jump out of the cockpit into a management role, he took it with both hands and they were quite a good, competitive duo and Jerome ✨led it into another year and finished second ꧃in the Formula E Championship.
“I think he has the ෴know-how of having been a racing 🐻driver at a very high level.”
