McLaren has promoted Tim Goss to the role technical director – and made it clear that former incumbent Paddy Lowe is on his way out at the end of the year, presumably to take up a new position at Mercedes.
However it’s not clear whether Lowe has already formally agreed terms to go elsewhere or is in effect being left in limbo while his McLaren contract runs out.
In confirming that Lowe is leaving team boss Martin Whitmarsh noted: “Paddy will be performing a different role within McLaren until the end of the year. He’s been a good and successful F1 Technical Director, and we wish him well when he embarks on a fresh challenge in 2014.”
Goss, who joined McLaren in 1990, is only the fifth man to hold the technical director title after John Barnard, Gordon Murray, Adrian Newey and Lowe. In recent years as director of engineering he has led the design of each F1 car.
Whitmarsh added: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to Tim on his new position, which, after more than 20 years of exceptional service for McLaren, he richly deserves. His quiet and unassuming persona conceals a fierce competitiveness and a wealth of experience, coupled to an unrivalled level of expertise in the field of Formula 1 car design and engineering.
“It’s a little-known fact, for example, that over the past 23 years he’s made crucial technical and engineering contributions to the winning of five of McLaren’s 12 Drivers’ World Championships and three of McLaren’s eight Constructors’ World Championships, and that he’s been the principal definer and developer of McLaren’s F1 car design function for more than five years.
“I firmly believe that our technical and engineering team is the best in the F1 business, and that its strength in depth has always been and will continue to be an important element of our on-track success.
“Moreover, I’m certain that, in his expanded role, Tim will continue to lead it very capably indeed, and will evolve and improve it. That’s his brief, and it’s already clear that he’s prepared to embrace it with energy and enthusiasm.
“In truth, though, this is a natural evolution in Tim’s already very successful career, and the fact that the decision to offer him our Technical Directorship was so straightforward for Jonathan and me demonstrates two things: the robust and logical succession-planning that underpins the senior engineering personnel structure within Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and the commitment we have to developing our people, over many years, allowing their talent and expertise to flourish in a collaborative and collegiate environment. That’s good work practice, and it’s worth lap-time.”
Adam Cooper F1 