New Formula E manufacturer Lola has recruited former Super Aguri and McLaren Formula 1 designer Peter McCool as technical director to lead its design department ahead of its return to international motorsport later this year.
McCool, a former columnist at The Race, also worked for the Team Aguri, Mercedes and McLaren Formula E teams in senior roles between 2014 and 2022.
He will work with existing senior management at Lola, including managing director Michael Wilson and McCool's former partner at the Aguri F1 and Formula E teams, Mark Preston, who is employed by Lola owner Till Bechtolsheimer as motorsport director.
The Lola-Yamaha entry will be run in conjunction with Abt, which for the past two seasons has used the Mahindra powertrain.
McCool joins Lola from Alpine Labs, the applied technology division of the F1 team with which it shares its name, where he was chief engineer of the special design cell.
Alpine Labs was recently closed down amid myriad changes at the company following the departure of Bruno Famin and the arrival of Flavio Briatore.
It will be McCool's second stint at Lola, having worked as a senior designer from 2009-12 when he was employed to work on the ultimately thwarted Lola F1 design that was put in place by then owner Martin Birrane for the 2010 season.
Speaking to The Race about his new role, McCool said he "had a super time" at Lola during his first stint there and added "this new project is really exciting for me".
"There was lots of nice people and for me engineering is about the people you are working with," he added.
"So that's why I have fond memories of Lola. I was really disappointed we didn't get into Formula 1 that time but that wasn't for technical reasons, because we were more prepared than any of the other new entrants in 2009.
“Formula E is a championship I really like and have enjoyed, so when you add those two together, and with all the plans that Till has got, it's just very appealing from a technical perspective."
McCool begins his new role next Monday, where he will essentially take over from former Williams, McLaren and Toyota engineer Mark Tatham, who The Race understands will be retained in a consultant role.
In addition to its Formula E programme, Lola is eyeing a future Le Mans 24 Hours campaign, possibly in conjunction with a manufacturer.
McCool said he was attracted to his new role because "there's definitely a will to find something at Le Mans".
"And there's a will to work with other manufacturers, particularly on electrification, zero-emission fuels, and bio-composites, all the green technologies that motorsport should be adopting and should be leading in,” he added.
Development testing escalates
After the first miles were put on the Lola-Yamaha powertrain at the Turweston airfield in Northamptonshire in mid-June, Abt driver Lucas di Grassi is continuing to complete several meaningful tests.
Two days were ticked off at the Calafat test track in Spain earlier this month, while running will continue in Italy in September and several other private tests are also due to be completed before all teams gather at the pre-season Valencia test scheduled for November 4-8.
The development team, which includes members of the Abt engineering group as well, has been averaging 400km per test day without significant issues.
Abt will confirm a second driver to join di Grassi in the coming weeks. It is possible that Formula E's most experienced driver, who has raced in all bar one E-Prix since 2014, will be paired with a rookie for the 2024-25 campaign.
The Race understands that Dan Ticktum and Sacha Fenestraz had talks with the Abt team last month but that a driver without experience is being favoured and is close to signing for the team.
Formula 3 racer and Red Bull junior Tim Tramnitz - who has tested for the team occasionally - is not expected to be that new Abt driver.
