Was chief designer for McLaren F1, promoted after Newey left the team, but in 2007 he, along with Nigel Stepney, was involved in an industrial espionage scandal that rocked the sport and cost McLaren the constructor's title. Having been banned from working in the sport for two years, Coughlan went elsewhere and worked for Ricardo Transmissions as an engineer and design consultant. In 2011, his racing ban now long over, he returned to Formula 1 as Williams' lead technical engineer, but left in 2013. Was in the US, where he was technical director at Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR series. He is now out of the sport and back in the UK, and was recently working for Jankel Armouring in East Sussex, responsible for engineering design of military, security and aid agency vehicles, but has since moved on. Now works for a pump manufacturing company.

Biography last updated 14 Jul 2023