Pat Symonds will be parting ways with the Williams F1 Team at the end of the year, stepping down from his role at the Chief Technical Officer. This news comes at the end of his three-year contract with the team.
Armed with a Masters in Aerodynamics, Symonds entered the motorsport world in the early ‘80s, working for Toleman. He was also Michael Schumacher’s race engineer while he was at Benetton. He remained in the role as Head of Research and Development at the team after Schumacher left the team and he eventually took over Ross Brawn’s role as Technical Director. Symonds was later promoted to Executive Director of Engineering and remained with the team when they were sold to Renault. Symonds was suspended for five years for his involvement in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix Crashgate incident, although the suspension was later overturned. He returned to Formula One in 2011 as a consultant for Virgin Racing. In July 2013, Symonds replaced Mike Coughlan at the Williams F1 Team as the Chief Technical Officer.
“Pat has been a tremendous asset to this team over the past three years,” explained Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal at Williams F1. “Pat’s appointment was the start of a major restructuring exercise, and he has been pivotal in reshaping Williams into what is a much stronger racing team today. I would like to thank him for all of his hard work and commitment during that time. We now look to the future and will be announcing details regarding the team’s technical leadership in due course.”
It was originally believed that Symonds would remain with the team until 2017 and that Paddy Lowe would be joining the team to take over Symonds’ role after a transition period. It would appear that this is not the case, as Symonds will no longer be employed by the team as of December 31, 2016.
Paddy Lowe is still the most likely candidate for Symonds’ former position on the team, although James Allison has also been linked to a Formula One return. However, Allison’s return is likely to be with Mercedes to take over Lowe’s former position.
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