09/11/2005
NEWS STORY
As F1 insiders wonder who will fill the void at McLaren, following the shock defection of design guru Adrian Newey, The Guardian newspaper is claiming that the reason for the move was money.
According to the British newspaper, Newey "demanded" a £2.3m pay increase on his current £3.5m ($6m) salary. Sources close to Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh are claimed to have said that neither felt 'such an investment could be justified'.
Furthermore, sources are reported to have said that 'it was felt the formula one design process had grown to the point that no individual was bigger than the team'.
Ironically, when Newey left WilliamsF1 for McLaren at the beginning of 1998 - following a few long months of 'gardening' - it was also over money, Frank Williams and Patrick Head having expressed similar sentiments to those now being echoed by their McLaren counter-parts.