Williams Patrick Head steps down as member board of directors – Formula 1 news
Williams have announced that Patrick Head will not be a member of its board of directors anymore.
Head stepped down as the team’s director of engineering ending a long tenure of almost two and a half decades with Williams Grand Prix Engineering since it was founded in 1977.
The announcement was made at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and he will now be joining Williams Hybrid Power Limited.
Williams have been one of the major teams in the sport, and have a long history of being at the cutting edge in technology. The 2011 season for Williams was not as good as they would have liked, with their car not been able to compete at the level the leading
cars were on the grid.
That though is not the reason for Head to step down. He has performed to the best of his abilities for so many years, and the decision was his own. Williams won 113 Grands Prix, 9 constructors’ championships and 7 drivers’ championships during his tenure
which is a great achievement in itself.
Owner of Williams Sir Frank Williams had only good things to say for Head and mentioned that he will be missed a lot in the department but that he is happy that Head will still be a part of Williams through his Hybrid Power role.
“Patrick and I have been in partnership for 34 years,” Williams said. “During that time, he has been the leader of the technical team that has won the majority of our race wins and championships. This is a remarkable legacy and one which will be treasured
and definitely not forgotten.”
“Patrick is a very straightforward, hard working and truly gifted engineer who comfortably operates at a world class level. I will miss him very much, as I am sure his colleagues will, and he will always be welcome at Grove,” he further added.
Williams have not announced who will be filling the big void left by Head. It will be interesting to see what new changes can be brought in as someone new comes in his post as the team looks towards the 2012 season.
Talking about their upcoming season, it is very important for the team to come up with a competitive car, as there had been scathing criticism for the team’s lack of competitiveness in the 2011 season.
The pre-season testing begins in February 2012 and that will give an idea of where the team stands for the new 2012 Formula 1 season.
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