Racing fans on either side of the Atlantic may be familiar with the name
Mike Coughlan. The controversial engineer was at the heart of the
Spygate scandal between the
McLaren and
Ferrari teams a few years back and was subsequently ejected from
Formula One. While he was waiting for his banishment to expire, he came over to the U.S. where he was working for Michael Waltrip Racing in
NASCAR. But as soon as his sentence was up, he was back in
F1 with the
Williams team. Trouble is, his contract with Waltrip wasn't quite up yet.
As a result, MWR launched a lawsuit against Williams – oddly not against Coughlan, though – for poaching their employee. At the time, we said we doubted we'd heard the last of the case, but it seems we may have now as the parties have reportedly settled out of court.
The details of the ostensibly amicable settlement haven't been released, but whatever they arrived at has apparently left both teams happy to have closed the matter. In fact, Waltrip has even invited Williams to a NASCAR race as their guest, something the aging team leader is apparently excited to observe for the first time. All's well that ends well, then.
As a result, MWR launched a lawsuit against Williams – oddly not against Coughlan, though – for poaching their employee. At the time, we said we doubted we'd heard the last of the case, but it seems we may have now as the parties have reportedly settled out of court.
The details of the ostensibly amicable settlement haven't been released, but whatever they arrived at has apparently left both teams happy to have closed the matter. In fact, Waltrip has even invited Williams to a NASCAR race as their guest, something the aging team leader is apparently excited to observe for the first time. All's well that ends well, then.
