For the past 22 years Norbert Haug led Mercedes-Benz Motorsport division in every field they entered. But at the end of 2012 he will step down as the chief of all things motorsport at Mercedes. His contract will come to an end by mutual agreement with the Board of Management.

Most of us know Norbert from Formula 1. We witnessed him running up and down the paddock for years. He managed a couple of world champions and led Mercedes team and its partners to six Formula One world championship titles and 87 Formula One victories.

Norbert’s resume has more than just F1 success in it, though. In the DTM, Mercedes teams won a total of 32 titles under Haug’s leadership. Since the first title win in 1992, Mercedes-Benz has won 54% of all DTM races and about 60% of all DTM titles (drivers/manufacturers/teams). During that period of time Mercedes-Benz has competed in 986 races in total (Formula One, Champ Car, GT, Group C, Formula 3) under Haug’s leadership and won 439 of them.

This will boost the rumors that have been flying around for some time about Michael Schumacher gearing up for a managerial post at Mercedes.

Comments:

“Norbert Haug was the face of the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport programme for more than 20 years. For me, he put his stamp on a whole era and, as a highlight, he was responsible for the successful comeback of the Silver Arrows to Formula One. In the name of the Board of Management and the whole motorsport family, I would like to thank Norbert for his extraordinary commitment to the three-pointed star,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars and CEO of Daimler AG.

“I would like to thank the best car company in the world for more than 22 years, which never had a single moment without passion for me. I particularly wish to thank the Board for the trust and freedom they have always given me with all my activities. Since 1991, we had tremendous achievements and wins, for which I want to thank all of my colleagues. Unfortunately, with one victory in 2012 since founding our own Formula One works team in 2010, we couldn’t fulfil our own expectations. However, we have taken the right steps to be successful in the future. Our team and our drivers will do everything to achieve these goals,” said Norbert Haug.