F1's other free agent who will be in demand for 2021

It would be interesting to know the thoughts that ran through Andy Cowell's head while watching the Austrian Grand Prix, the head of Mercedes' Formula 1 powertrain business having left his role two days before practice started.

For the former Cosworth engineer, the 16 years he spent working at the epicentre of the Silver Arrows' engine division could hardly have been more fruitful - world championship successes with McLaren and Brawn in 2008 and 2009, followed by the extraordinary engineering achievement that's been the hallmark of the company during F1's hybrid era.

Being central to the power behind every one of Lewis Hamilton's six world titles is no mean feat. Whatever the future brings, Cowell will be in demand by Formula 1 media and historians long after Britain's most successful racing driver hangs up his helmet.

Press releases announcing the departure of someone of Cowell's stature are always interesting to read for what they don't say. Is there praise fulsome, or mention of the sort of gardening leave that has kept many an Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire or Surrey lawn and hedgerow looking immaculate?

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The thought that the man who headed one half of Mercedes' Brackley-Brixworth bulwark might be tempted by poachers from Maranello and Milton Keynes will have run through many readers' minds.

Several things stand out about the announcement, the first being that Cowell informed Mercedes of his intention to leave back in January. This was pre-COVID-19 and, were he heading for a competitor, I suspect he would have been down at B&Q faster than you can say 'hybrid powertrain'.

Instead Cowell spent the subsequent months working with his boss Markus Schafer, chairman of High Performance Powertrains (HPP), and F1 team principal Toto Wolff to put in place a succession plan. This is unquestionably the right and best way for someone of Cowell's accomplishments to move on. While it is satisfying to leave a trophy cabinet full of historic achievements, ensuring the continuation of HPP's success into the future will be an even greater legacy.

Managing people is a skill, particularly in an industry as unforgiving and relentless as Formula 1, so Cowell's success in delivering the power behind the German company's domination of the championship since 2014 has not only been about creating clever hybrid engines. The human factors involved in a programme such as this should never be overlooked.

While it is satisfying to leave a trophy cabinet full of historic achievements, ensuring the continuation of HPP's success into the future will be an even greater legacy

The new managing director responsible for the F1 engine programme is Hywel Thomas, a man who has worked alongside Cowell for every one of those 16 years. The benefits of that are obvious - not for HPP a newly-appointed boss who needs time to learn the ropes.

Joining Thomas in leading the business forward are Adam Allsopp, who will report
 to Schafer and head the engine project for the One supercar, operations director Richard Stevens and Ronald Ballhaus, head of finance and IT. These appointments are significant because it shares responsibility more widely in the post-Cowell era, promotes smart people who Mercedes wants to retain, and ensures HPP does not move forward with all its leadership eggs in one basket.

As for Cowell himself, the coming months bring a period of transition as he supports the new management structure, while the plan is for him to assist Schafer on a major new project into next year. Not a new job, rather a piece of consultancy work.

It seems Cowell is destined to start something new. At a time of unprecedented changes in the world of power unit technology across the automotive and motorsport world, whoever gets him will be very fortunate indeed.