Schumacher to have new race engineer in 2011

Michael Schumacher will have a new race engineer at Mercedes next year, according to reports.

The French-language Eurosport said the identity of the engineer is Mark Slade, who this year is working alongside Vitaly Petrov at Renault.

Slade moved to Renault this year from McLaren, where he worked with famous Finns Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen.

After 15 years with the British team, he left McLaren early this season due to a technical staffing reshuffle.

Schumacher’s engineer in 2010 is Andy Shovlin, who in 2009 worked at the Brackley based team – then Brawn GP – alongside world champion Jenson Button.

It is expected that Shovlin will have a more general engineering role next year.

Schumacher’s teammate Nico Rosberg will also have a new race engineer in 2011, having worked this year with Jock Clear.  It is expected that Tony Ross, Rosberg’s former race engineer at Williams, is switching to Mercedes.

Meanwhile, French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet wrote in his latest Auto Plus column that Mercedes GP chiefs Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug will have more distinct roles in 2011.

Moncet said he believes team boss Brawn’s role will be partially factory-based.

 © RIF | GMM