Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to miss Japanese Grand Prix

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from the next Formula One race in Japan, it is understood.

It is understood that Wolff’s decision to miss the race in Suzuka on April 7th was taken before the start of the new season and is not connected to the team’s performance in Australia.

Wolff admitted after Sunday’s race at Melbourne’s Albert Park that it is “fair” to question his future as team principal following Mercedes’ troubling weekend.

Lewis Hamilton qualified only 11th and the worst start to his 18-season career was confirmed when his engine expired on lap 17, while team-mate George Russell was seventh when he crashed out.

Wolff, who lives in Monaco, will be on the intercom remotely throughout the race weekend in Japan – with his duties at the circuit to be divided between senior members of the Brackley team.

The Austrian also missed last year’s Japanese GP and the ensuing round in Qatar, following knee surgery. On those occasions, the team’s driver development director Jerome d’Ambrosio was handed the effective on-site team principal baton.

But it emerged earlier this month that D’Ambrosio is set to end his association with the team when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Wolff admitted last year that he intends to scale back his on-track presence in the coming years.

The 52-year-old, who has been in charge of Mercedes since 2013, recently signed a new three-year deal to remain as chief executive and team principal of the F1 operation he co-owns with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ola Kallenius.

Mercedes won an unprecedented eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021, but they have tasted just one victory from their last 48 outings.

Fresh from his harrowing accident in Melbourne, Russell is