Mercedes signs reserve, Prodromou starts at McLaren

Two formula one teams had news to announce on Monday.

On Sunday, 19-year-old Pascal Wehrlein became the youngest race winner in DTM history, and a day later he was unveiled as the new reserve driver for F1’s dominant team, Mercedes.

"Pascal will travel with the team from the Singapore grand prix onwards as part of his reserve driver duties," said the German squad, revealing that Wehrlein made his F1 test debut last Thursday in a two-year-old Mercedes.

"It certainly helped that I have been working hard in the simulator since February," he said.

Meanwhile, just over an hour’s drive from Mercedes’ UK factory, former Adrian Newey protege Peter Prodromou started work at McLaren’s Woking headquarters in his new role as chief engineer.

Joining from reigning world champions Red Bull, Prodromou is a high-profile signing by McLaren ahead of its switch to works Honda power for 2015.

"Peter has proved beyond doubt that he’s one of the most capable and intelligent engineers in formula one," said team boss Eric Boullier.