On September 13th, Sam Michael did announce he’d be joining as a Sporting Director for McLaren Mercedes for the F1 season in 2012.
With the deal underway as Sporting Director, Sam Michael would be working with senior staff of technical management at McLaren Mercedes. McLaren hopes to benefit greatly from Sam’s diversified skill sets and huge F1 experience he carries along with him. Many have acknowledged Sam’s energy, passion and enthusiasm for F1 racing. His new role as Sporting Director for McLaren should open the gates for both growth and success of Team McLaren Mercedes.
Team Principal, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Mercedes, told he welcomes Sam’s addition into their senior racing team. He told he’d be bringing in very good expertise and experience to their pit wall and would also be enriching their technical management provided to their drivers.
Sam’s racing career started with Team Lotus in 1993 and was responsible for Lotus’ R&D. As years passed, he was appointed as Senior Engineer at Lotus. In 2001, he made a switch to Williams as COE (chief operating engineer). Just 3 years of working at Williams, he was given the opportunity to be their Technical Director.
Sam has contributed relentlessly for Williams both in its growth and technical department for many years that speaks highly of his achievement in F1 racing, and with a profile such as his, McLaren are all excited to have him in their team.
When questioned about his switch to McLaren, Sam says he’s been a racer throughout his life and knows McLaren to be one among the best in F1 Racing. He says he knows and respects many members of McLaren’s senior management staff, and being a part of this excellent workforce, he considers it as a prime attraction to his new position.
With McLaren adding Sam to their immaculate senior group, a lot is to be seen how McLaren perform next season.
Performance wise, McLaren are not far behind Ferrari but a bit off-paced when it comes to matching Red Bull. There’s no doubt about McLaren outsmarting Ferrari this season on a couple of occasions, but a lot of work needs to be done to end Red Bull’s dominance. With Sam’s valuable addition, it looks like McLaren’s eyeing both the constructors’ as well as drivers’ Championship next season.
