Lauda: Rahal not sacked over Newey

It has been reported that the biggest part of Rahal's remit when he was hired to head up the struggling British team was to land the services of Newey, a close friend of his, and when the deal fell apart in June his job was on the line.

But Lauda, who has taken control of Jaguar since Rahal's departure, insists the idea was not mooted until at least three months after his appointment.

"Bobby started in December and not even he had this in mind from the early days," he said. "It developed in March-April time. I seriously was not aware of it because the first time Bobby approached me with this idea was after I had been there a month or two.

"He said 'Listen I have the possibility as I know him well from the past. Shall I start to get this thing going?' And, anyway, Adrian had signed a contract [with Jaguar] so it was not a failure from anyone on our side."

Rahal's departure has been painted as a clash of styles between the straight-talking Austrian and the politically-minded American. But Lauda says it was his superior at Jaguar, Wolfgang Reitzle, who wielded the axe in the end.

"The reality is that Dr Reitzle took over the matter so I didn't take the decision in the end," said Lauda. "Reitzle and Rahal agreed on something, which was stated in the press release. But it was not my press release, it was the company's. I must say that Dr Reitzle did very well to find an agreement with him to make, let's say, a smooth departure.

"And Bobby is still part of the group because he's a Ford dealer and Jaguar dealer in the USA and there's a business relationship he is continuing even though he's not here anymore. I think Reitzle did a very good job to solve the problem."