Rob Smedley joins Felipe Massa at Williams
It had been foreseeable for a few months, and now it's official: Rob Smedley will join Felipe Massa at Williams. However, he will no longer be his direct race engineer, a position held by Andrew Murdoch.
It is a long partnership that will continue into the next season. Indeed, British engineer Rob Smedley and Brazilian driver Felipe Massa have been associated since the 2006 European Grand Prix. They have experienced everything together, from the 30 seconds of being world champion in 2008 to the terrible accident in Budapest in 2009.
When it was made official that Felipe Massa would join the Grove team, the paddock was buzzing with rumors that pushed the Brit to make the same move. He took the opportunity to get a promotion as he will occupy the newly created position of vehicle performance director. This creation of the position aligns with the recruitment of Jakob Andreasen, from Sahara Force India, to lead engineering operations.
Since his arrival in July 2013, Pat Symonds has established that the main reason for the team’s lack of competitiveness during the 2013 season was the lack of connection between track activities and the factory. This is why Rob Smedley will oversee the team’s two race engineers. Thus, Andrew Murdoch retains his position, moving from Pastor Maldonado to Felipe Massa, while Jonathan Eddolls continues his collaboration with Valtteri Bottas. However, this structure will only be effective starting from the third Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, as Rob Smedley will not be available before then.
If the recruitment of Rob Smedley is the most visible, the team led by Claire Williams has also strengthened from a strategic perspective as it has also recruited Richard Lockwood from Marussia to become responsible for all race strategy, alongside Randeep Singh.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
