Paddy Lowe becomes Williams technical director and shareholder
Williams has just confirmed that Paddy Lowe is joining the team with immediate effect as Technical Director. He also becomes a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors.
The vacation period has therefore been short-lived for Paddy Lowe. After a departure from Mercedes made official on January 10, the British engineer is already taking on new roles today, this time at Williams.
It’s a return to roots for the technical director as he made his F1 debut in Grove in 1987, where he was part of the great era of domination in the early 1990s. But if he is now returning to Grove, it’s both as technical director (which was already his position at McLaren and Mercedes) and also as a shareholder.
This point is precisely one of the main reasons that led to his departure from Mercedes, after three consecutive seasons with both world championship titles. Indeed, none of the team’s shareholders (Mercedes, Toto Wolff, and Niki Lauda) were inclined to sell him shares.
This is not the case at Williams, which is in search of its glorious past. The newcomer emphasizes that receiving shares from the publicly listed team is an important point for him: “I have always had deep respect for Williams, my first team in Formula 1. It is a great honor to return as a leader and have the opportunity to become a shareholder. I am extremely motivated to help the team regain its success.”
The team is aided in its ambitions by the substantial financial support from Lance Stroll, which has already made it possible to bring in heavyweights into the organization, notably Dirk de Beer in aerodynamics and Dave Redding as sporting director. The financial contribution from Mercedes for agreeing to release Valtteri Bottas is also significant in the team’s budget.
Claire Williams, the deputy team principal, is therefore delighted to have brought in an engineer who has contributed to 12 world championships and 158 victories: « Our ambition at Williams is unequivocal: we want to win races and championships, but for that, you need the best talents. With Paddy, we believe that is what we have, as well as a leader who will drive change. This is crucial for us, and we are very excited about the future of the team. »
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
