LONDON: Mercedes chief designer John Owen is to leave the Formula One team later this year, it was announced on Tuesday.

Owen, 52, joined the British-based outfit in 2007, when it was Honda, andhasbeenakeyngure in championships won under the name Brawn in 2009 and Mercedes from 2010.

Brawn GP clinched both the drivers` and teams` championships in 2009 and the team won seven drivers` and eight constructors` championships as Mercedes from 2014 to 2021.

`We can confirm that John Owen, our director of car design, has decided that now is the right time to take a break from F1 and that he will be leaving the team later this year to begin a period of gardening leave, after assuring the transition to his successor,` Mercedes said in a statement.

`John has been with our Brackley team since 2007 and played a considerable role in our success.

Mercedes said Owen`s role would be filled by Giacomo Tortora, currently engineering director, while deputy technical director Simone Resta will oversee the group.

Pre-season testing starts in Bahrain next month, ahead of the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia on March 8.-AFP