Saturday May 17th, 2003

Mercedes engine expert Mario Illien has told McLaren's Formula One partners that he has not been approached by rivals Renault, Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug said today.

Media reports have linked the Swiss, a co-founder of McLaren's engine designers Ilmor, to Renault after the French team parted company this month with their engines chief Jean-Jacques His.

"Lots of people have offers, I would say all the good people have permanent offers, so maybe Mario has some," Haug told reporters. "I asked (Renault team boss) Flavio Briatore and he said no. I asked Mario and he said no.

"So it is not a subject for me any longer."

Published at 17:37:29 GMT

Picked from the Bunch:	<<  Previous  |  May Index  |  The Grapevine |  Next  >>
(03-11-2005): Australian GP Paddock Gossip (03-09-2005): Greece Finds Site for Formula One Track (03-09-2005): Red Bull Set to Get Honda Engines in 2006 (03-08-2005): Schumacher in Line for Sporting Oscars (03-07-2005): Daily Grapevine Sunday Analysis - Australia

© 2005 Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions | © 1995-2005 Kaizar.Com, Inc. Copyright & Terms