Following the announcement that Laurent Mekies will leave his position at FIA to join Scuderia Ferrari later this year, Eric Boullier has become the first to vent his frustration that another member of the sports governing body has joined a Formula 1 team.
Mekies, who has resigned from all of his roles within Formula 1 with immediate effect, will join Ferrari in September after his three-month gardening leave is over, with his official departure from the FIA coming in June when his role as FIA Safety Director concludes.
Following the backlash that followed the appointment of another FIA employee Marcin Budkowski by the Renault Sport Formula One Team last September, a gentleman’s agreement was said to have been put in place by all of the teams that FIA staff would have a year of gardening leave before joining team.
However, Boullier, the Racing Director of the McLaren F1 Team, feels the Italian team has already broken that agreement by pinching Mekies and bringing him in after only three months.
“We very unhappy with the FIA for losing yet another key employee to a racing team,” said Boullier to Motorsport.com.
“Especially after it was agreed by all teams at the last Strategy Group meeting that no key technical FIA employees would be employed by a race team within 12 months of leaving the FIA.
“Ferrari went against the gentleman’s agreement, and the FIA has not enforced it.”
