Lewis Hamilton will be reunited with Paddy Lowe sooner than expected after Mercedes announced on Monday that the former McLaren technical head was joining its Formula One team next month.

Mercedes said in a statement that the Briton had been appointed executive director (technical) and would start on June 3 - the week of the Canadian Grand Prix - after agreement was reached with McLaren for him to be released from the remaining seven months of his contract.

Lowe will work closely with team principal Ross Brawn, the man he could one day replace, who retains overall responsibility for technical and sporting matters.

McLaren had already put Lowe on "gardening leave", removing him from sensitive work, with Tim Goss being promoted to the role of technical director. It announced last week that it would switch from Mercedes engines to Honda in 2015.

Lowe's arrival at Mercedes, which signed 2008 world champion Hamilton last year, had been expected since January, when reports indicated he was being lined up as Brawn's replacement.

Reuters

(China Daily 05/22/2013 page23)