After spending a long period without a technical director, Team Williams has finally got their wish fulfilled with the arrival of François-Xavier Demaison. Moreover, driver George Russell is quite pleased with the move and now looks forward to putting that missing piece in their F1 jigsaw puzzle.
“Formula 1 is one massive jigsaw puzzle. You’ve got to put those pieces together, of which a technical director is the one orchestrating that. It’s been challenging, and a lot of people had to do jobs that they probably weren’t necessarily signed up for because there wasn’t anybody necessarily leading them.” Russell said.
“Now we’ve got a CEO, now we’ve got a technical director. These guys can now get back to focusing on their main objective, whether it’s aerodynamics, whether it’s mechanical, whether it’s electronics, whatever it may be, with our new technical director orchestrating them and bringing everything together.”, Russell further added.
Williams family (the original owners) has sold the team last year to American investment firm Dorilton capital. Furthermore, the new owners have roped in Simon Roberts to the team principal’s role. Besides, the former Volkswagen Motorsport chief Jost Capito is joining in as CEO.
Additionally, Capito has brought in his former co-working partner at Volkswagen Francois-Xavier Demaison for the technical director’s role. The position has been left vacant since Paddy Lowe’s exit during a devastating 2019 season for team Williams.
Team Williams suffered big time due to the absence of a Technical director
Credits : Getty Images
Like Russell mentioned, you cannot thrive in a sport like F1 without a Technical director. Certain aspects like Aerodynamics, mechanical or electronic requirements for the car require a professional technical director’s services.
Russell further admitted that his team had taken a big hit due to a technical director’s absence. While finishing 14th on the recently concluded Bahrain Grand Prix, team Williams required a big dose of motivation.
So, by every means, a technical director’s arrival comes as a big sigh of relief for the Grove-based team. Though things won’t change overnight, it may come as a reversal of fortunes for them for the upcoming seasons.
