Mercedes technical executive Paddy Lowe will join rivals Ferrari Read Motorsport has been told.
The 54-year-old has apparently agreed to terms with the famous Scuderia and he and his wife were at Maranello in recent weeks.
Lowe was drafted in at the Brackley team in 2013 after spending 18 years with McLaren, he climbed the ladder at Woking where he would eventually serve as technical director from 2005.
He was seen as one of the main driving forces behind Mercedes’ initial improvement in 2013, before becoming the dominant force in Formula One from 2014, as the sport switched to V6 turbo hybrid engines.
Lowe will likely take over the role of technical chief left by James Allison earlier in the summer.
Mattia Binotto was drafted in as his replacement, but Sebastian Vettel played it cool when asked about the rumour swirling in Singapore.
“When someone of his calibre is available, of course, you have to think about it. But to my knowledge he is not available,” he replied
It wouldn’t be the first Mercedes-to-Ferrari move made in recent years, Lewis Hamilton’s former race engineer Jock Clear also made the move back to Maranello in 2014, however, was unable to start properly until this season after spending last year on gardening leave.
Indeed, while details are limited at this time, the issue of gardening leave will be an interesting story to follow.
That’s because the timing of his move coincides with a huge change in regulations coming for 2017.
It is highly likely that Lowe himself may have to wait a year until he can take his post at Maranello, as Mercedes look to ensure the vital information he has about the power unit and their 2017 project would be less beneficial to Ferrari.
Nevertheless, his departure would mark a huge blow to the technical team at Mercedes, who also lost Bob Bell to Renault earlier this year.
It also leaves a gap in the three-man team at the top alongside Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda.
The power unit side will likely remain just as strong, however, with Andy Cowell still at the helm in Brixworth.
