Williams have announced changes to their engineering department ahead of the 2015 season, including the recruitment of Dave Robson as Felipe Massa’s new race engineer.
Robson, who will work under the team’s head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley, joins from McLaren where he spent several years as Jenson Button’s race engineer.
As part of the shake-up, Massa’s former engineer Andrew Murdoch has been promoted to senior performance engineer. In this role Murdoch will lead the performance group at Williams’ Grove base, developing new techniques and processes within the engineering team to ensure continual performance improvements are brought to both cars throughout the season.
Murdoch will also remain part of the trackside team with a focus on Valtteri Bottas’s car, though the Finn will continue to be engineered by Jonathan Eddolls.
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Also changing role is Carl Gaden, who has been promoted to senior car systems engineer after 22 years as Williams’ chief mechanic. Gaden, who joined Williams in 1988, will now be responsible for ensuring systems continue to be reliable, whilst Mark Pattinson, previously number one mechanic on Massa’s car, will step up to the position of chief mechanic.
Commenting on the changes, Williams’ chief technical officer Pat Symonds said: “Off the back of a great 2014 campaign Williams is determined to continue this positive momentum into the new season, and these recent changes show our commitment to that goal.
“We are proud to be able to promote our existing talent to help strengthen every area within our engineering team and we will continue to invest in new talent where necessary to ensure we have the support and resources to achieve our on-track ambitions throughout 2015 and beyond.
“Our engineering team for the coming season is looking strong and I’m excited to get the new season underway.”
Williams finished the 2014 season in third place in the constructors’ standings - their highest finish since 2003.
