Paddy Lowe to leave Mercedes for Williams
After losing Nico Rosberg, who announced his retirement a few days after Abu Dhabi, Mercedes has just lost another key element in its success in the person of Paddy Lowe, its technical director.
After three years of Mercedes’ overwhelming dominance and the conquest of three constructors’ and drivers’ titles, the tide may be turning with the possible departure of one of its key figures, namely Paddy Lowe, their technical director. The British engineer has received an offer from Williams, which he has reportedly decided to accept.
The negotiations for extending Paddy Lowe’s contract beyond 2016 were put on hold to prevent any interference with Mercedes’ season. However, it seems that an offer from another team, presumably Williams, is jeopardizing the negotiations.
His contract ended on December 31, 2016, which could allow the engineer to join the Williams team as early as 2017 without a lag period forcing him to wait before resuming work.
Let’s recall that the Briton, who began his career with Williams, is the inventor of active suspension. This innovation enabled the team and Nigel Mansell to dominate the 1992 season. After this successful stint with Williams, the Englishman joined McLaren in 1993. This collaboration resulted in a Constructors’ title in 1998 and two Drivers’ titles for Mika Hakkinen. Later, he was one of the key figures in Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title. The Woking team promoted him to the position of technical director in 2011. Eventually, he joined Brackley and Mercedes mid-season in 2013, where he reunited with Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton will apparently replace Pat Symonds as the technical director of Williams since the latter announced his retirement a few weeks ago. Paddy Lowe might also take on higher responsibilities by leading the team and acquiring shares in it, as was the case with former technical director Patrick Head.
To replace him, the most likely candidate seems to be James Allison, who left Ferrari during the season. The former technical director of Ferrari and Lotus has reportedly been followed by the star-branded company for a few months.
