Technical Dir Paddy Lowe "could be about to follow newly-retired Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg out of the door at dominant Mercedes," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Motorsport.com reported multiple sources "with good knowledge of the situation" indicated that Lowe, who has helped Mercedes win three successive constructors' titles, was "set to join" rival Williams. Mercedes, which was "rocked by Rosberg's retirement" announcement only five days after he won the title at the end of last month in Abu Dhabi, had no comment on rumors that "have been rife since September." There was no immediate response from Williams. Lowe started his F1 career with former world champion Williams in '87 and spent six years there. Lowe's contract at Mercedes is "due to expire at the end of the year," according to reports in Britain and Germany, and the 53-year-old's future has been the subject of "considerable speculation" (REUTERS, 12/11).
ALONSO STAYING PUT: The BBC's Andrew Benson reported "Fernando Alonso is not a candidate to replace world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes," the Spaniard's manager, Flavio Briatore, said. Mercedes Exec Dir Toto Wolff said on Monday that he "had to consider" Alonso as a replacement. Briatore: "We have an agreement with McLaren and we are going to respect that." McLaren Exec Dir Zak Brown added this week, "We have a contract with Fernando and he is very happy. Obviously he wants to be winning races, as do we, but I am not worried about that scenario. We are very comfortable where we are at" (BBC, 12/9).
HAMILTON CLEARED: Benson reported in a separate piece Mercedes has "decided not to take action against Lewis Hamilton after he ignored team orders in Abu Dhabi." Hamilton was driving slowly to "try to bring other drivers into the battle" between himself and Rosberg, who won the title by finishing in second place. The team asked him to speed up. Wolff said, "In the heat of the moment, sometimes when you make decisions, you get them wrong. How the race panned out, we should have communicated differently and in hindsight let them race in the way they deemed to be appropriate" (BBC, 12/9).
