 Feature: Who Will Replace Lauda at Jaguar? Thursday November 28th, 2002 By Alan Baldwin
The question must be answered soon, with the Ford-owned team's new R4 car due to be launched on January 13 and the most inexperienced driver line-up in the paddock looking for leadership. Lauda's tenure ended on Tuesday, when it was announced that the former World Champion was relinquishing both his job of head of Jaguar Racing and of Ford's Premier Performance Division. While the little-known technology expert Anthony Purnell took over as head of PPD, the more high-profile team vacancy remains open. Richard Parry-Jones, the senior Ford executive who oversees the Formula One programme, has promised to move swiftly. "We recognise that it is a key appointment and we do not want to leave it open for very long," he said. "We have to get the balance right between picking somebody who can provide the right kind of leadership in terms of profile but is also aligned philosophically with the way we want to run the team and the business. "Yes, there may be some difficulty in attracting the right person. I can't deny that. But we are a manufacturer, we have long term intentions in the sport and we have laid out our strategy. "When we go and talk to prospective candidates for this kind of a job and we describe the approach that we are taking and the philosophy that we are following, we do find people are very interested." Candidates The candidates are not immediately obvious. Whereas previously Lauda had a dual function, the new incumbent will have to report to Purnell in a subservient role as well as the Ford hierarchy. Former champions and 'superstar gurus' need not apply unless they have a proven record of management and engineering awareness as well as reduced wage demands. There are some former team bosses floating around but former BAR principal Craig Pollock, now Jacques Villeneuve's manager, and Alain Prost would top few lists. Neither would the man whose resume boasts multiple sportscar world titles with Jaguar, Le Mans wins and a Formula One World Championship with Ford as engineering director of Michael Schumacher's Benetton. Disbelief would surely have to be suspended for that individual - Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw, whose links with Jaguar extend back to 1982 when he raced touring cars for the marque - to enter the running. Ford-owned engine supplier Cosworth are taking legal action against Walkinshaw, whose Arrows team could lose their battle for survival in the next few weeks, and he was unequivocally ruled out of the reckoning by a Jaguar spokesman on Thursday. Jaguar's acting technical director Guenther Steiner is a novice in the Formula One paddock and there appears to be little prospect of anyone being lured from big guns Ferrari, McLaren or Williams. Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds might be considered a candidate, having a deep knowledge of the workings of the paddock and success with Benetton, but there is nothing to suggest he is eager to move. The Briton was the subject of some speculation last season, linked primarily to Jordan, to the extent that Renault issued a statement saying that he was "one of the most valued members of our senior technical management" and was not moving anywhere. Having stunned the sport with Lauda's sudden departure after announcing their new drivers for 2003, Jaguar could spring another surprise with his replacement.
Published at 12:38:37 GMT
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Formula One has a new guessing game - name Niki Lauda's replacement as Jaguar's fifth team boss in three years.
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