Pat Symonds Appointed Chief Technical Officer for Williams F1

The Williams F1 Team have announced Pat Symonds will replace the outgoing Mike Coughlan as Chief Technical Officer beggining 19th August.

Symonds, who has a chequered past, joins Williams from the Marussia F1 Team where he held the position of Technical Consultant.

The former Renault F1 engineering head was banned from Formula One in 2009 after a Singapore Grand Prix scandal. It was claimed that Symonds had asked, then driver Nelson Piquet, Jr to crash deliberately in order to fix the result for his teammate Fernando Alonso. Symonds was initially banned for five years but his ban was overturned and he was allowed to return to a full time position this year.

Speaking about the appointment, Williams F1 Team Founder and Team Principal Sir Frank Williams said: “I’m delighted that Pat is joining the team. His technical capabilities and sporting successes speak for themselves and I’m sure that his knowledge and leadership will contribute considerably to the success that all of us at Williams are working hard to achieve.”

Pat Symonds said: “Williams is a team steeped in success and engineering excellence and I’m honoured to be asked to play a role in returning the team to its rightful place at the pinnacle of Formula One. Sir Frank, Mike and Claire have put in place the foundations for success and I’m immensely excited to begin this new challenge.”