» Mercedes splits with head of aerodynamics

Amidst the noise and celebrations of its excellent qualifying performance at Monaco, Mercedes has also parted company with its head of aerodynamics, Loïc Bigois, who is now rumoured to be on his way to Ferrari…

The Frenchman has been with the team since its Honda days in 2007, but his departure follows a restructure in the team’s technical ranks.

The reshuffle sees the team’s technical director Geoff Willis assume a more senior role in the team’s aerodynamics department, while Bigois opted to resign – rather than being assigned a position he did not want.

“Loic has been a really important member of the team for a number of years but we have had an internal reorganisation,” team principal Ross Brawn confirmed.

“Perhaps, with some of the restructuring we have done, it didn’t fit in with what he was hoping to do, so he asked to be released from his contract and we released him.”

Bigois will take a period of ‘gardening leave’ until the end of the year, and it is believed he will take up an aerodynamics role at Ferrari, who have of course denied that any such deal exists.