McLaren might not have to shoehorn its vast Grand Prix weekend operation into the last garage on the pit wall after all, according to an intriguing footnote in a Times story today.
The paper says the Woking team, facing banishment to the far end of the pit lane following its expulsion from the 2007 constructors’ championship, has found an unlikely saviour in the person of Bernie Ecclestone.
The F1 supremo has apparently negotiated a slot in the fifth garage, between Williams and Red Bull, after pressure from Mercedes. The deal includes room for the notoriously massive McLaren motorhome.
Here’s what the report says:
…it has emerged that Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s commercial rights holder, has stepped in to broker a deal with the sport’s team principals, allowing McLaren to occupy the fifth garage from the top of the pitlane this season. It had been assumed that McLaren would be at the bottom of the pitlane at every circuit, having been disqualified from the 2007 constructors’ championship for cheating.
But in what is thought to be an attempt to appease Mercedes, McLaren’s German partner, Ecclestone has negotiated a deal whereby McLaren will slot in after Williams and ahead of Red Bull. The agreement, confirmed by sources at McLaren, means that the Woking-based team’s large circular motorhome will have enough space in the paddock to be deployed at all European circuits. Read the full story here…