McLaren is taking legal action against Mercedes in a contract dispute over a key staff member who was contracted to leave Mercedes to join McLaren, but has recently reversed their decision. McLaren allegedly signed the employee to a contract which they feel has been violated.
The employee in question is Loic Serra. Serra first joined Formula One in 2006 to begin working with BMW Sauber as the head of vehicle performance, before moving to Mercedes in 2010. He currently holds the position as head of vehicle dynamics for the German team.
In an effort to improve the performance of the team, McLaren has been actively recruiting new blood to help improve the team. They allegedly gave Serra a legally binding contract to join the team, which was signed. Despite this, the employee has recently revealed that he will not be making the switch and will be remaining with Mercedes instead.
McLaren feels that Mercedes is to blame for the contract violation, claiming that they enticed Serra to break the contract. This has sparked a legal dispute between the two Formula One teams, as they head to summer break.
Racing Clothesline has been in contact with the teams involved in the dispute, but neither team was willing to comment on the situation.
This case is remarkably similar to the incident involving Dan Fallows. Fallows was an aerodynamicist for Red Bull and was signed to a contract with McLaren in 2014. However, Fallows remained with Red Bull, sparking a legal dispute similar to the current situation. This dispute was resolved out of court, via a discussion between Ron Dennis and Christian Horner.
