Formula One: Williams hire ex-McLaren spy designer

LONDON: Williams named Mike Coughlan, the designer sacked by McLaren four years ago for his role in a $100 million Formula One spying controversy, as their new chief engineer. The team said Coughlan, who has been working in the US NASCAR series with Michael Waltrip Racing, would be joining next month. At the same time, the struggling former champions said technical director Sam Michael and chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson had resigned and will leave at the end of the year. Williams chairman Adam Parr told reporters he had also tendered his resignation to team co-founders Frank Williams and Patrick Head, who intends to retire this year, and shareholder Christian ‘Toto’ Wolff but they had rejected it.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2011.