McLaren: Ferrari's FIA signing broke agreement

ByAutoSport

Published 15/03/2018 at 13:14 GMT

McLaren has accused Ferrari and the FIA of breaking a gentleman's agreement after the Italian Formula 1 team announced it had signed FIA safety and deputy race director Laurent Mekies.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Mekies will serve a three-month notice period before leaving his current post, and will start at Ferrari in just over six months' time on September 20.

Renault's signing of former FIA technical head Marcin Budkowski at the end of last year prompted teams to discuss the matter of gardening leave in a Strategy Group meeting.

It was agreed that 12 months would be an appropriate minimum wait for former employees of both the FIA and the F1 Group to start working for teams.

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The fact that this deadline has been broken so soon after it was agreed has angered rival teams.

"We very unhappy with the FIA for losing yet another key employee to a racing team," McLaren racing director Eric Boullier told Autosport.

"Especially after it was agreed by all teams at the last Strategy Group meeting that no key technical FIA employees would be employed by a race team within 12 months of leaving the FIA.

"Ferrari went against the gentleman's agreement, and the FIA has not enforced it."

Other teams are known to have expressed similar views in private, although they have yet to comment publicly.

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