Wolff, in day-to-day charge of the team, owns 30 per cent and has enjoyed a meteoric rise since inheriting the template designed by Ross Brawn, the former team principal, and the rest of the 800 staff.
The two Austrians, Wolff and Lauda, who both have their own, separate allegiances on the Mercedes board, are believed to have fallen out over the lengthy saga surrounding Red Bull, and whether or not to give them an engine. Lauda went to see Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s billionaire owner, earlier in the year. The drinks magnate believed the deal was done.
Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s owner, believed a deal with Mercedes was done
Behind the scenes, Matescthiz believes Wolff scuppered the offer both by supplying Manor with an engine – this ensures they supply the maximum of three teams – and by persuading the board in Stuttgart that the threat of VW eventually joining forces with Red Bull was real. This made executives edgy, for fear that their prized engine designs would end up in the hands of a direct rival.
It has left Mercedes and Red Bull at war, and conflicted Lauda too, as someone who is more open to improving the competitiveness of a direct rival, despite the obvious risks. He is still thought to be keen on a deal for 2017 onwards.
Niki Lauda (right) is on the brink of quitting Mercedes
As it is, Red Bull will stay in Formula One with a Renault engine having finally confirmed their future on Friday. They do not expect to be competitive, but Mateschitz is said to have “got his mojo back” for the sport, motivated by what he sees as Mercedes treachery.
Yet the scars left by the performance of Mercedes and Hamilton extend further than their internal unease. Ferrari’s team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, spectacularly lost his cool with a cameraman in the first practice session, with the pressure on to deliver next year, but the divides extend deeper.
At a meeting of all the teams earlier this week, Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s embattled chief executive, and Donald Mackenzie, the boss of the sport’s owners, announced fears that Renault’s long-awaited takeover of Lotus may not happen, putting Red Bull’s position in further jeopardy. The French carmaker is haggling with Ecclestone over another €10 million (£7 million) in prize money.
The 85-year-old then asked who might be willing to offer an engine. Wolff protested that they were already supplying three teams, Arrivabene said they did not have enough parts, before Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman, spectacularly lost his cool when asked if he would forgo his veto on Honda supplying any outfit other than his.
When the story and the order on track are largely predictable, disquiet off it festers. Friday’s two practice sessions in Abu Dhabi were no exception. Hamilton, eager to make amends after two victories in a row for Rosberg, topped the first from his team-mate. The rest were nearly one second adrift. The second under the lights was more of the same, only with the top two swapping places.
Is this the calm before the storm?