McLaren has launched legal action against rival team Mercedes over a member of their technical staff, that McLaren claim signed a legally binding contract to leave Brackley for Woking.
Motorsport reports that Mercedes' head of vehicle dynamics, Loic Serra, had agreed to join McLaren as the team looks to bolster its engineering department as it seeks to return to the front of the grid.
However it's reported that Serra reneged on the binding deal to instead remain at Mercedes, prompting McLaren to launch legal action, with the team suspecting that Mercedes offered Serra incentives to stay put.
A spokesperson didn't want to comment on the action, simply confirming it is pursuing the matter through the courts: "The matter is subject to legal proceedings and we do not wish to comment until that process is complete."
Serra has been with Mercedes since 2010, having previously worked for BMW Sauber as their head of vehicle performance.
It's not the first time McLaren have launched action against a team over an employee. In 2014, the team took action against Red Bull over aerodynamicist Dan Fallows.
Fallows had agreed to join McLaren alongside Peter Prodromou, but chose to remain with the Milton Keynes team. The matter didn't reach court however, with Ron Dennis and Christian Horner coming to an agreement following private discussions.
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