JANUARY 26, 2002

Trouble at Ilmor

As we suggested some weeks ago all is not well at Ilmor Engineering with the new Mercedes-Benz engine having a number of problems and according to unconfirmed reports a senior Ilmor engineer has been asked to leave the company because of the problems which have been found.

AS we suggested some weeks ago all is not well at Ilmor Engineering with the new Mercedes-Benz engine having a number of problems and according to unconfirmed reports a senior Ilmor engineer has been asked to leave the company because of the problems which have been found. The plan was for McLaren to run the all-new 90-degree engine but the unit's lack of performance has caused the team considerable worries which help to explain the early launch of the new car.

The team is hoping that a great deal of development work will bring the new engine up to a competitive level before the start of the new season but it is still possible that the team may decide that it is necessary to go to Australia with old cars.