MAY 15, 2002

Mike Coughlan's future

A few months ago we suggested that Mike Coughlan, the technical director of Arrows, was coming to the end of his contract and that he might be looking around for work with a bigger team. Coughlan has done a remarkable job in difficult circumstances at Arrows and the recent performances of Heinz-Harald Frentzen have highlighted the potential of the car.

Coughlan is a highly-experienced F1 engineer who has been working in the sport for 21 years (despite the fact that he is only 43) and in that time has designed for Team Lotus, Benetton, Tyrrell and Ferrari.

He joined Arrows in the summer of 1997 and was named Technical Director in August 1999 on a three-year deal.

The suggestion in Austria was that Mike could move to McLaren although suggestions that he would head the aerodynamic program do not seem logical as Coughlan is better known as a mechanical engineer rather than as an aerodynamicist.

It is not clear whether the rumors are true or whether there is a negotiating game taking place at the moment.