It’s not been the start to the 2024 Formula 1 season that Mercedes would have been hoping for.
A double DNF in Australia was the worst-case scenario after middling results in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Karun Chandhok has explained another worry he’s got within the Mercedes team.
The headline news is the imminent loss of Lewis Hamilton before he joins Ferrari in 2025.
He might be wishing he was already in Carlos Sainz’s car after he achieved the third win of his Formula 1 career in Melbourne.
Toto Wolff has a huge decision to make when it comes to replacing Hamilton, but there are other key members of staff moving on too.
Karun Chandhok has admitted that losing Loic Serra to Ferrari is also going to be a big blow to Mercedes.
The 51-year-old Frenchman plays a big role behind the scenes as the team’s performance director.
Karun Chandhok worried about Loic Serra leaving Mercedes
Staff members come and go between F1 teams on a relatively regular basis as each manufacturer looks to get the edge over their competitors.
Adrian Newey is arguably the most important backroom staff member in Formula 1 and has been crucial to Red Bull’s recent success.
He’s been linked with one of their competitors and would make a huge difference heading into 2026 when the regulations change.
Sky Sports commentator David Croft believes Andy Cowell was another key asset at Mercedes and thinks Hamilton would want him to follow him to Ferrari.
However, it’s Loic Serra who is joining the seven-time world champion at Maranello and Chandhok thinks that’s a big loss for Mercedes.
Damon Hill was lamenting at the last season the staff from the aero department within the team that had recently moved on.
Mercedes need to find a way to turn this around to avoid suffering a fate similar to Williams in the future.
Toto Wolff set to lose another key Mercedes staff member
Serra joins a growing list of important staff who have or will be departing Brackley.
Lewis Hamilton is the most obvious asset, but Cowell and James Vowles – now Williams team principal – have also moved on.
Talking about Serra, Chandhok said: “Every organisational structure will have gaps that need to be plugged.
“They must feel, reading the press release, it sounds like Simone Resta is going to work alongside James on the overall structure of the team, rather than detailed design.
“What perhaps they need to understand is further down the food chain and in terms of detailed design, are there people at Red Bull who they can have?
“In the same way they lost Loic Serra to Ferrari, that’s quite a loss to them because Loic was highly rated at Brackley.”
Who is Mercedes performance director Loic Serra?
There’s a reason why Chandhok thinks Serra will be such a key departure for Mercedes in 2025 and beyond.
The 51-year-old started his career in motorsport with Michelin and first started working with F1 teams more than 20 years ago.
When Michelin stopped being a tyre supplier for Formula 1, Serra joined the BMW Sauber team before joining Mercedes when the German manufacturer withdrew from the sport.
He was chief vehicle dynamicist before taking up his current role and has been with the team for much of their recent success.
Ferrari and Hamilton will be hoping he can have a similar impact when moves on at the end of the season.
The post ‘Quite a loss’: Karun Chandhok concerned for when Mercedes lose ‘highly rated’ 51-year-old in 2025 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
