Christoph Sagemuller, who has led Mercedes-AMG's motorsport department since March 2021, will step down at the end of the month and hand over his post by 1 July.
"I can confirm that Christoph Sagemuller will leave the company at his own request and by mutual agreement at the end of this month," a Mercedes-AMG spokesperson explained.
The news comes as a surprise, as Mercedes insiders had expected Sagemuller, who has been with the company since 2011, to eventually take on a higher position within the Daimler Group. Instead, however, it is understood that he will leave the company entirely and has apparently already found a new role elsewhere.
Mercedes-AMG employees have already been informed, and his succession has also been settled. "Simon Wilbers will take over the position of head of Mercedes-AMG motorsport within the organisation," the Mercedes-AMG spokesperson clarified.
Successor previously reported directly to Sagemuller
The German has been with Mercedes-AMG since March 2018. Since 2023, he has headed the marketing department within the Mercedes-AMG motorsport division and, as of February 2025, was also responsible for commercial and partnerships.
This placed him directly below Sagemuller in the Mercedes-AMG motorsport hierarchy, which consists of three pillars at the second level: the customer racing department led by Stefan Wendl; the strategy, product management, and communications department under the leadership of Julian Reiss; and the marketing and commercial department under Simon Wilbers, who is now being promoted to head of motorsport.
In this role, he is responsible for the entire motorsport department at Mercedes-AMG, with the exception of the Formula 1 project led by Toto Wolff. This includes GT3 racing as well as other areas of customer racing.
Major challenges for the new head of motorsport
The brand with the three-pointed star has been very successful recently, as evidenced by victories in this year's editions of the Nurburgring 24 Hours and the Bathurst 12 Hour, as well as the lead in the overall DTM standings. Furthermore, a special coup was achieved this year with the addition of Verstappen Racing and four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who competes for arch-rival Red Bull in grand prix racing.
Aside from this, however, there are major challenges such as the development of the successor to the current Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the transition from HWA AG to the 100% subsidiary Affalterbach Racing GmbH, which - as rumours suggest - is not proceeding entirely without friction.
Unlike brands such as BMW or Audi, Mercedes-AMG had previously outsourced the majority of its GT programme, as Hans-Werner Aufrecht's company was responsible for the development, production, spare parts supply, and support of the cars until the end of 2025.
Wendl will continue to serve as head of the customer racing programme despite the internal restructuring, Mercedes-AMG confirmed. Therefore, "the existing responsibilities and ways of working in this area remain unchanged."
