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Williams Racing
is pleased to announce the recruitment of five highly-experienced Formula 1
technical leaders and an outstanding new Chief Information and Analytics
Officer as the team continues to strengthen and transform in pursuit of
success.
The exceptional new technical hires have worked on cars and powertrains that
have secured 12 Constructors’ World Championships and 13 Drivers’ World
Championships, and have more than 102 years of combined experience in the
sport. Our new Chief Information and Analytics Officer (CIAO) brings
unrivalled expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Data and has worked on
projects to maximise simulation capabilities with F1 teams.
They add to the Championship-winning pedigree of Team Principal James Vowles
and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, and are a further demonstration of the
long-term investment being made on and off track by owners Dorilton Capital
in pursuit of our mission to evolve and win further world titles.
Matt Harman will join Williams as Design Director, starting after the summer
shutdown. Most recently Technical Director at Alpine, Matt has also worked
at Renault, Mercedes and Mercedes’ powertrains division over a 24-year
career in F1. He worked on five Constructors’ and Drivers’ title-winning
cars at Mercedes, in addition to the powertrains that took Lewis Hamilton to
his first Drivers’ title with McLaren and Jenson Button’s
Championship-winning Brawn.
Fabrice Moncade joins the team as Chief Engineer, Computing Science on July
1. Formerly Head of Performance Analytics at Ferrari, he has pioneered
modern-day lap simulation in F1 and worked on two title-winning cars while
at Mercedes. He has also worked at McLaren, Sauber and BMW Sauber during his
17 years in the sport.
Juan Molina arrives as Chief Aerodynamicist and starts on July 15.
Previously Principal Aerodynamicist at Haas, he won three championship
doubles during a spell with Red Bull and will report to Adam Kenyon who was
promoted to Head of Aerodynamics in April.
Steve Winstanley is appointed Chief Engineer, Composites and Structures to
lead and transform the structures department within the design office. He
brings 22 years of F1 experience including 14 at Red Bull, where he was
involved in six double-Championship-winning campaigns.
Richard Frith will also join Williams in 2025 as Head of Performance
Systems. Formerly Head of Performance at Alpine, Richard has 25 years of
experience in the sport including spells with Jordan, Force India, Sauber,
Marussia and McLaren.
All five will form part of the technical team being led by Pat Fry, who
joined Williams in November.
They are among 26 new recruits from other F1 teams who will join Williams
over the course of the year, including several from Mercedes and Ferrari,
four from Red Bull and 10 from Alpine. There has been a particular focus on
strengthening the aerodynamics team, with 11 hires, and the design office
with 13.
And they will be joined by Sorin Cheran, who arrives at Williams as CIAO
after a 17-year career with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He specialises in
Artificial Intelligence and innovation and will lead a transformation of how
the team acquires, stores, indexes and uses data to build a best-in-class
technology operation.
Their recruitment follows the recent announcement that Alex Albon has
committed his future to Williams with a multi-year contract extension, and
as the team prepares to enter the new F1 regulations era in 2026 with a
long-term Mercedes power unit supply in place.
James Vowles, Team Principal: “I am delighted to welcome these six
incredible people to Williams. We are on a mission to fight our way back to
the front and being able to attract experienced, Championship-winning talent
from other teams demonstrates huge belief in the journey we are on. Williams
is investing in what it takes to win, and this is just the start as we
prepare to welcome more new faces from across the grid in the months ahead.”
Pat Fry, Chief Technical Officer: “Williams Racing has bold ambitions and
huge momentum, and these exceptional recruits show this is a project people
want to be part of. We are adding strength in depth to the enormous talent
already at Grove as we build for the future.” |
