Tim Goss replaces Paddy Lowe as the technical director of McLaren

Tim Goss has just been promoted by McLaren to the position of technical director of the Woking team. This will be the second time Goss will occupy the position previously held by Paddy Lowe. Indeed, in early 2011, he became McLaren’s director of engineering when his superior became the technical director, following Pat Fry’s departure to Ferrari.

He has a very strong understanding of the workings of Woking as he joined the team in 1990 as a development engineer, after four seasons with engine manufacturer Cosworth. During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, he shared track presence with Paddy Lowe to maximize work both on the circuit and at the factory.

Martin Whitmarsh, the team director, said: “I would like to congratulate Tim on his new position, which he thoroughly deserves after more than 20 years of outstanding service at McLaren. His understated and modest personality hides a highly competitive spirit and a wealth of experience, combined with unparalleled expertise in the design and engineering of a Formula 1 car. It’s not widely known, for example, that over the past 23 years, he has made essential technical and engineering contributions to enable McLaren to win five of its twelve driver world championships and three of its eight constructor titles. He has been primarily responsible for defining and developing McLaren’s F1 cars over the past five seasons.”

The McLaren leaders also commend the human resources process that has been implemented, which aims to promote internal talent instead of recruiting externally, as Mercedes has done for the past two seasons: « In truth, even though this is a natural evolution in the already highly successful career of Tim, the fact that our decision to offer him our technical lead was so evident to Jonathan Neale and me demonstrates two things: the robust and logical succession plan that defines the structure of our senior engineering staff within Vodafone McLaren Mercedes as well as our commitment to developing our employees, over many years, allowing them to cultivate their talent and expertise in a collaborative and collegial environment. It’s a good thing and it’s worth it. »

As for Paddy Lowe, he will go to the end of his contract, which expires on December 31, 2013, in a “different role,” meaning he will quickly be sidelined from the developments that will begin for 2014. However, his destination is not yet certain. Strong rumors suggest he is going to Brackley with Mercedes, but Ross Brawn recently reaffirmed that he is firmly in control of the team while Lewis Hamilton also stated that he didn’t see his former technical director joining him.

Another solution could therefore be Williams, where Toto Wolff had attempted to bring him in before leaving to take the helm of Mercedes Motorsport. The Grove team could choose to bring in a very experienced engineer, who might be tempted to take the final step by becoming a team principal.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr