Former Williams and McLaren engineer Sam Michael, has been appointed to the board of the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety.

The Australian, who took over from Patrick Head as Technical director at Williams in 2004, and subsequently joined McLaren as Sporting Director in 2012, walked away from F1 in 2014 as Ron Dennis took back control of the Woking outfit.

As part of a restructuring of the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety (AIMSS), Michael, along with Dr Michael Myers and Dr Michelle Gatton, will join current directors Dr Michael Henderson, Mark Larkham and Andrew Papadopoulos, while Garry Connelly is the new chairman.

“The addition of Michelle Gatton, Mike Myers and Sam Michael means that with the continuing members, our board is now equipped to deliver very positive outcomes for Australian, and indeed, global motor sport participants,” said Connelly.

Michael entered F1 in 1993 when he joined struggling Team Lotus. He was subsequently recruited by Gary Anderson to Jordan where he progressed through the ranks eventually becoming engineer to Ralf Schumacher and then Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Recruited by Frank Williams in 2001, the Australian left the team in 2011 as it endured the worst start to a season in its history.

Though he joined McLaren for the final races of 2011 it was not until the start of 2012 that he was appointed sporting director.

At one point, following a series of high-profile mistakes, Martin Whitmarsh was forced to defend Michael's position, and in the coup of 2014 which saw Dennis re-take control it was inevitable that Michael's days were numbered, the Australian subsequently announcing his decision to return to Australia for "family reasons".

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