Ford Explains Lauda's Exit from Jaguar

Austrian Niki Lauda will step down from his role as Jaguar's team principal and head of Ford's Premier Performance Division (PPD) as the team head for a "new technical philosophy", Ford vice president Richard Parry-Jones confirmed in a news conference in London today.

Parry-Jones said, however, that he had asked the former World Champion to stay as an advisor for the team, and said the he hoped Lauda would accept the offer. Lauda's position as Jaguar's team principal will not be filled for the moment, but Parry-Jones said they expected to hire someone soon.

"Lauda is relinquishing his roles as head of PPG and team chief," said Parry-Jones. "I've asked him to remain as advisor so we can continue to benefit from his experience and I very much hope he accepts the post. This has not been an easy decision. The less controversial route in the short term would have been to maintain the status quo.

"But this restructure is required to obtain our strategy. I am convinced that irrespective of history this is the way forward. Improving technology and efficiency requires immediate change of management philosophy. I asked myself what foundations I have to put in place to allow the team and its partners to become a regular podium contender.

"One of the cornerstones is a choice of individuals who will be best suited for these tasks. This will take time to deliver results but Ford and myself are committed to see this through."

Lauda will be replaced by Pi Electronics's chief executive Tony Purnell as head of Ford's Premier Performance Division, which includes Jaguar Racing, Cosworth Racing and Pi Electronics itself.

"What I have fundamentally done here is put someone like Tony with enormous technical depth," Parry-Jones added. "Niki Lauda - whom I have enormous respect for - doesn't have those technical depths. The importance of technical competence and technical collaboration has escalated in the last couple of years in F1, it's now a different situation than what we faced two years ago.

"This is not just about making sure the R4 performs well next year, it's about building a very solid foundation not only for next year, but for the year after and the year after that. This is a long term plan."

Lauda joined Ford-owned Jaguar in 2001, replacing American Bobby Rahal in August of that year as the struggling team's fourth principal in three years. Jaguar entered Formula One in 2000 after taking over the team founded by Stewart and have underperformed notably since then.

The team finished last season in seventh place and have replaced Briton Eddie Irvine and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa with Australian Mark Webber and Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia. Both Webber and Pizzonia today started testing at the Barcelona circuit after a six week post-season test ban.