Two new technical appointments at Williams
The technical reorganization is accelerating at Williams: Jason Somerville, coming from Lotus Renault GP, will head the aerodynamics department of the Grove team, while Mark Gillan will return to competition after two years in teaching.
As often in Formula One, these two engineers have passed through numerous teams before joining their next position. Thus, Jason Somerville began his career at Williams, initially on the endurance program that combined Williams and BMW during the victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999, and then within the F1 team from the same year.
He then decided to join Toyota until the withdrawal of the Japanese manufacturer, which led him to become the aerodynamic project leader at the Renault F1 Team. He was therefore at the heart of the technical invention of the year, namely the blown diffusers (which have since been banned…). He will rejoin Williams starting August 15th, where he will be directly under the responsibility of Mike Coughlan, the new chief engineer of the team.
As for Mark Gillan, he made his debut with Williams’ main historical rival, namely McLaren, where he actively participated in the titles won in 1998 and 1999. Although he became the chief aerodynamicist of the Woking team in 2001, he decided to move to Jaguar the following season to work on car performance as well as serving as chief engineer for testing and race operations. He then worked with Toyota and as a professor at the University of Surrey. He will be operational for Williams from next October 1st.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
