- Mercedes has officially promoted Lord to a senior leadership role in the team
- The newly appointed figure is a 25-year F1 veteran across multiple teams.
- Team Principal Toto Wolff has addressed what changes mean following reshuffle.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has promoted Bradley Lord to Deputy Team Principal, effective immediately. Lord, who has been with the team since 2013, will work directly under Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff.
The move formalises a senior leadership role that had, in practice, already been taking shape within the team. Wolff’s position at the top remains unchanged.
The announcement
Mercedes confirmed the appointment in an official statement, framing it as a response to the sport’s growing demands. The team noted that its “scale, complexity, and operations have expanded significantly” over the past decade.
As Formula 1 continues to expand globally, teams across the grid are restructuring to keep pace. Mercedes says this move reflects that wider trend.
Lord will now carry formal responsibility for supporting Wolff and strengthening the senior leadership group.
Who is Bradley Lord?
Lord, 45, has spent 25 years in Formula 1. His career started in the late 1990s at Renault, where he worked as a translator.
He studied English and French at the University of Oxford before entering the sport. After Renault, he joined the Benetton Formula team in 2001 as a trainee, later working in communications at the Enstone-based outfit, which eventually became Renault F1.
Between 2007 and 2009, he worked as a journalist for F1 Racing and Autosport. He returned briefly to Enstone before joining Mercedes-Benz in 2011, where he worked on both the Formula 1 and DTM programmes in Stuttgart.
Lord joined the Mercedes F1 team in April 2013 as Communications Manager. He moved up steadily from there: Head of F1 Communications in September 2014, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Communications Director in February 2017, Strategic Communications Director in July 2021, and Team Representative and Chief Communications Officer in April 2023.
Those who follow the team closely know Lord’s face well. He can often be spotted standing next to Wolff in the Mercedes garage on race weekends. When Wolff has missed races, including the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Lord has stepped in for post-race media sessions.
Bradley Lord belongs to a small group of trusted figures that Wolff has leaned on over the years. That group previously included James Vowles, now Team Principal at Williams, and Jerome D’Ambrosio, now Deputy Team Principal at Ferrari.
Wolff’s role remains unchanged
Wolff was direct about what this promotion means and what it does not.
“While my role and overall responsibilities will not change one millimetre, Bradley’s work as Deputy Team Principal will further enhance the capability of our leadership group and provide continued support for me as our Team Principal and CEO,” Wolff said.
He also pointed to Lord’s contribution to the team’s run of success. “Bradley is a dedicated and long-serving member of our organisation who has played an important part in the team becoming the most successful of the modern era,” Wolff added.
The appointment signals stability, not upheaval.
Lord’s background sets him apart from the typical Deputy Team Principal mould. His strengths lie in communications, strategic leadership, and managing the team’s relationships with the FIA, the media, and commercial partners, not in engineering or technical operations.
That profile fits well with what Mercedes needs right now. The team heads into the 2026 season as one of the early frontrunners, with George Russell leading the drivers’ championship and Kimi Antonelli in close pursuit.
With a new regulation cycle bringing peak operational demands, Mercedes has chosen to reinforce its leadership structure with someone Wolff already trusts completely.
