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New Chief
Engineer Mike Coughlan spent his first day with his new employer AT&T
Williams F1. He took the time out to answer a few questions.
How do you
feel about joining AT&T Williams?
I am thrilled to be at AT&T Williams. I have always admired Williams, it is
such a renowned name in motorsport so I am excited to work with the team to
try and recapture their past glory. This would have been great at any point
in my career because Williams is such an iconic team, but it is made even
more special because I have been given the chance to return to Formula One.
You come to the team having not worked in Formula One since 2007, what
have you been doing since then?
I took the opportunity to help develop the Ocelot light protected patrol
vehicle, designed to protect British forces in transit. I then moved back
into racing with Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR. I was expecting to be
with Waltrip for the next stage of my career, and they are a super team, but
unfortunately it proved impossible to work on one side of the Atlantic with
my family living on the other. So, the opportunity at Williams also brings
my family together again, which is obviously important.
You have said that 2007 was a life‐changing experience. In what way?
It was life‐changing because it made me reflect upon myself and my actions.
Leaving a team and a sport that I love, and then seeing the consequences of
my actions on the team and its fans was devastating. All I can do now is
work hard and try to earn my place back in Formula One. This is what I am
determined to do with Williams.
To those who feel that what you did was unforgivable, what do you say?
Well, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone who was
affected by my conduct and in particular the people at McLaren and Ferrari
and the fans of those teams. I sincerely regret my actions and I fully
accepted the penalty given to me by the FIA. I can only hope that I can earn
back everyone’s respect.
Have you had a chance to evaluate the team, and what do you think of your
new place of work?
I was really impressed when I looked around the factory. The team has a
fantastic site at Grove and some brilliant people working there. Seeing the
potential of the team and the facilities for myself, as well as witnessing
how motivated everyone is and how hard they all work, is really encouraging
and I’m looking forward to working with them all.
What do you think you can bring to the team?
Essentially, the team as it stands is fantastic. It is full of intelligent,
creative and determined people who, from what I have observed, should be
seeing results far beyond those they are achieving at the moment. So while
we will be bringing in a couple of new people, it’s also a case of looking
at the way we work.
And what do you hope to achieve in your time at Williams?
Personally, I am aiming to integrate myself back into Formula One and prove
myself. With regards to the team, I think we all have one goal – to win
races. I think I can say that even though I have only just finished my first
day here! But obviously I’m hoping to help bring an upturn in the team’s
results and put it back to where it deserves to be. |
