Rats leaving the sinking ship? Going to help Hamilton take number 4? WTF? He's been on "gardening leave" for weeks? Only the British... McLaren chief engineer Phil Crew jumps ship to Mercedes F1 team Veteran McLaren engineer Phil Prew has left the Woking team to join Mercedes, Motorsport.com can reveal. Prew will take on a senior role at the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains facility in Brixworth, as chief engineer. His presence will ensure that the power unit division has a man on hand who has detailed knowledge of the chassis side, helping to improve integration even further. Prew stopped work at McLaren several weeks ago, and is currently on gardening leave prior to taking up his new job on January 1. His departure is a major blow for McLaren. He joined in May 1997, and has been a mainstay of the race team ever since, latterly as chief engineer. During that time he worked closely with current Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe and Lewis Hamilton, two others who have switched camps.
Not a big deal. If you read that Podromou, their ultra-expensive design genius, was quitting now that definitely would mean "rats leaving the ship".
Maybe the first step to equal the teams? Now they need to hire a few Honda-engineers to look for their next years engine and the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field might be closed
