LONDON (AP) — Mike Coughlan, the Formula One designer at the heart of the 2007 spy scandal, will return to the sport in June to head an overhaul of the Williams team’s technical department.
Williams says that Coughlan will join as chief engineer in June as part of an initiative to boost a team that won the last of its nine constructors titles in 1997 and has yet to pick up a point from three races in this season’s championship.
Coughlan was fired as McLaren chief designer and banned for two years after a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at his home.
He has been working for NASCAR competitor Michael Waltrip Racing.
Team principal Frank Williams says Coughlan “profoundly regrets” his conduct and “is now determined to prove himself again.”
