AUGUST 12, 2003

A shake up coming in Ford Europe?

Our spies in the United States tell us that there is about to be a shake-up in the management of Ford Europe, which could have an effect on the company's involvement in Formula 1. We hear that Martin Leach, the president of Ford Europe is to leave the company. His successor has not yet been named and Ford's European operations will be overseen until a replacement is found will be overseen by David Thursfield.

Leach was a key player in the Jordan-Ford deal but whether his departure will have any effect on the three-year arrangement remains to be seen. At the moment Ford is keen to keep up the link with Jordan because it wants to use the money to help fund Jaguar Racing's F1 bid, while Jordan wants to do a cheaper deal which has been promised by Mercedes-Benz. The problem is that Mercedes-Benz does not want to take over the supply of engines to Jordan if it damages Ford's F1 involvement as Ford is a major player in the GPWC...