JULY 19, 1999
Another reshuffle at Stewart Grand Prix
THE Ford Motor Company has announced that Paul Stewart will move from his position as deputy chairman of Stewart Grand Prix to a new position as chief operating officer of the team.
Paul will work alongside current chief executive David Ring. It remains to be seen who will run the team when Ford puts in its own men but there are a variety of candidates who would like to run the operation, including David Richards of Prodrive and, we hear, Ford's motorsport boss in Europe Martin Whitaker.
We expect that the team will become a fully Jaguar-liveried team next year and Whitaker would very much suit the clean-cut English image which Jaguar is trying to promote. The team has Johnny Herbert under contract for 2000 and it is hard to imagine that Rubens Barrichello will leave but, at the same time, we hear that Ford is very keen to have David Coulthard involved - as he fits the Jaguar image perfectly - although it may be that Jaguar will wait until 2001 before bidding for David.