A Formula One worker who shot himself in the head feared he could be fired, an inquest heard today.

William Millar, 53, a technician with Enstone-based Renault F1 for nearly three decades, had been receiving treatment for stress and depression associated with work and for caring for his wife Valerie, who has multiple sclerosis.

He was found dead behind Renault's Whiteways Technical Centre on July 30.

Colleagues recalled him walking with something under his arm in a black bin liner.

They then heard a shot fired.

An inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court heard that Mr Millar's behaviour in the days prior to his suicide had concerned colleagues and family.

A statement from operations manager John Mardle which was read to the inquest, said: "He had problems at home of his own and with his children and he did tend to bottle up things with his wife.

"He seemed to switch off in meetings and start humming and we had to speak to him and try to get him back on track."

Mr Mardle said Mr Millar, of Bushey Ground, in Minster Lovell, had attended a meeting the previous day when he was told it was planned to move him from his role as a research and development manager to a workshop technician.

He said he had become particularly concerned for Mr Millar's welfare after he shook hands with a colleague at the beginning of the day and said goodbye.

The inquest also heard he had recently sent a number of controversial emails to senior members of staff.

In a statement read to the inquest, Donna Biskup of Renault Formula 1, said: "He had been having problems at home and as a company we have tried to assist him but he declined to accept any help from the company."

Mrs Millar was unable to attend the inquest due to her disability, but said in a statement she had been concerned about how her husband was acting.

She said: "The evening before he died I asked him if it was possible for him to take some holiday because the weather was good.

"He told me he was probably going to get the sack anyway so it didn't matter and he didn't want to talk about it."

She said her husband had been having fits due to high blood pressure, which had become more frequent in the last few weeks.

Mrs Millar said: "His personality had changed for the worse, he was quite nasty to me and argued with me."

Mr Millar had two children, James, 24, and Laurie, 20, and had worked for Renault F1 and Toleman, a previous incarnation of the team, for 27 years.

Oxford coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict that Mr Millar took his own life.