Hamilton: Zetsche departure won't impact Mercedes team

Lewis Hamilton says the upcoming departure of Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche likely won't have any bearing on Mercedes' efforts in Formula 1.

Zetsche, who has been at the helm of Daimler AG since 2006, leading the automotive group to a string of record profits, will step down in May 2019 and pass the baton to Ola Källenius, a longtime insider at the company and the head of Mercedes-Benz cars.

Källenius isn't exactly a stranger to F1, having managed in the past Mercedes' HPP engine department in Brixworth.

"I've known Ola since I was maybe 14," said Hamilton. "I've seen Ola's progression and what he helped build at HPP and his great input into the board as it is today.

"He's just as passionate. He's a massive racing fan. So I don't see anything shifting."

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Looking back on Zetsche's achievements, Hamilton praised the German executive, whom he first met back in his karting days, hailing the engineer's contribution to Mercedes' success in F1.

"Dieter and his contribution to F1 and Mercedes-Benz, and his heavy investment in F1, we wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for his and the board's belief in what we are doing together," insisted Hamilton.

"Board members can often be super-corporate and not passionate, but those guys are so passionate, it's really incredible.

"They text me after every race, and often before races. They turn up at a lot of the races as a team.

"I know that they're texting Toto [Wolff], for example, non-stop throughout the race. They're on the edge of their seats, and they're super-invested. That's a great thing," he added.

"Ultimately Dieter's really that figurehead. He's the one that supported me when I was 13. He's the big, big guy who said 'OK, let's do ahead with it.' So I've always appreciated his support all these years, and he's someone that I truly admire."

Toto Wolff also sees the shift at the helm of Mercedes as a smooth transition that won't affect the manufacturer's motorsport programmes.

"Ola has been on the board of the team since a long time," said the Austrian.

"He has been running Mercedes High Performance Engines before, and was the managing director of AMG.

"So, we have a very good relationship with the two of them and Dieter is not leaving, he's just taking a cool-off period and coming back into the supervisory board and Ola, obviously, as the new CEO provides stability for our F1 project."

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