Williams has appointed McLaren’s former chief operating officer, Simon Roberts, as its new managing director.
The move helps fill the gap in Williams’ senior management structure left by Paddy Lowe, who stood down from his role as chief technical officer last year following a disastrous start to the season. However, Roberts is not a direct replacement for Lowe and will take on a broad role including “overall responsibility for the design and development process, racing, factory operations and planning”.
Although he was rarely in the spotlight at McLaren, Roberts held a number of key roles at the team since joining it in 2003. In 2009 he was seconded to Force India for a season as part of an engineering partnership between the two teams, but returned to McLaren in 2010 initially as operations director before becoming COO, and a senior member of McLaren’s management structure, in 2017.
Speaking about Roberts’ appointment, Williams deputy team principal, Claire Williams, said: “Simon will bring enormous experience and knowledge to the Williams team, and we are delighted that he is joining us when we head back to work after this long enforced F1 shutdown.
“He will lead a highly talented team that’s looking forward to designing and developing the next generation of Williams F1 cars.”
After two seasons finishing last in the constructors’ championship, Williams aims to catch up with the rest of the midfield teams this year. Last year it scored just one point after a troubled start to the year, which resulted in Lowe leaving the team. Since then, the technical department has undergone restructuring and is now led by design director Doug McKiernan and head of vehicle performance Dave Robson.
Roberts will start work at Williams on June 1 and report directly to CEO Mike O’Driscoll.