Williams reorganizes its engineering and offers track time to Susie Wolff
Many changes on the Williams side where the engineering department has been reorganized to promote a more productive 2015 season. Additionally, Susie Wolff will test the Williams during the private tests in Barcelona.
On the Grove side, a reorganization is underway in the engineering department. Andrew Murdoch, who was Felipe Massa’s race engineer, becomes the principal performance engineer. He will lead the performance group at the British team’s factory, developing new techniques and processes to improve the performance of the team’s two Williams Martini cars. Murdoch will also keep an eye on Valtteri Bottas’s car, although his designated race engineer is Jonathan Eddols.
To replace Murdoch, Williams has called upon Dave Robson who will be the new race engineer for Felipe Massa. Robson was Jenson Button’s race engineer since 2010 at McLaren. Additionally, Carl Gadden becomes the car’s systems engineer.
Finally, Mark Pattinson, who was the chief mechanic for Felipe Massa’s car, will leave his position to become head of the mechanics. Pat Symonds, technical director, spoke on the team’s official website about these changes: « After a great 2014 season, Williams is determined to continue its momentum into this new season, and these recent changes show our commitment to this goal. We are proud to be able to promote our internal talent to help strengthen all areas within our engineering team, and we will continue to invest in new talent where necessary to ensure we have the resources to achieve our goals for 2015 and beyond. »
Furthermore, Williams announced a technical partnership with Dtex Systems, a global provider of security software. Dtex Systems will supply their software across the entire range of Williams’ business operations. The British team has undertaken an ambitious transformation of its digital assets over the past 12 months to ensure the company has state-of-the-art tools and engineering services.
Williams also emphasizes the latest technological innovations, as stated by Williams’ IT director, Graeme Hackland: « While keeping our F1 innovation away from rivals has always been important, it has become even more critical since we created the Williams Advanced Engineering division. When you are responsible for the data of multiple clients, proactive verification of how data is handled becomes critical to avoid data loss ».
Mohan Koo, CEO of Dtex, commented on this partnership with Williams: « Williams is a very special partnership for Dtex – not only for the prestige associated with one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport, but also because Williams Advanced Engineering has harnessed the strong intellectual property value created by F1 and applied it to the real world of technological demands. For this reason, Williams offers a fantastic showcase for Dtex to demonstrate how intellectual property protection can be achieved in a highly competitive environment, where restrictive security controls would stifle innovation. »
We finish on the Williams side with good news for the team’s test driver Susie Wolff, she revealed that she will test the Williams during the tests in Barcelona in mid-February. She stated on her Twitter account: “I am six weeks away from my first test in the Williams Racing FW37, I am continuing my physical preparation so that it is complete.”
As a reminder, the preseason tests will begin on February 1st in Jerez, while the next two sessions will take place in Barcelona – see the complete 2015 F1 private testing schedule.
