Sunday October 13th, 2002

McLaren's Mercedes partners have secured the services of Werner Laurenz, the BMW expert whose engines have powered Williams back up the Formula One grid.

Mercedes motorsport head Norbert Haug confirmed the move today, at the Japanese Grand Prix. He said Laurenz would be joining the Mercedes-owned Ilmor engine company, whose boss Mario Ilien would be freed up to spend more time on engineering projects as technical director.

"I know him since DTM (German touring car) times and he's been a very close colleague of mine... and we just want to strengthen our efforts," said Haug. "It's nice that he worked with BMW before but we knew his qualifications."

BMW said earlier in the week that Laurenz had been replaced by Heinz Paschen. "Of course it's always a loss if a key figure leaves the team," said BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen. "Werner Laurenz has been instrumental in getting the team up and running."

The BMW engine is widely considered to be the most powerful in Formula One, helping Williams to second place in this year's championship behind Ferrari.

Published at 03:44:51 GMT