Paddy Lowe takes leave from Williams

For two weeks and the missed beginnings of the news Williams during the winter tests in Barcelona, ​​Paddy Lowe's future within the historic British team seemed to be dotted. 

Faced with pressing questions from journalists, the technical director had tried to silence the rumors and assured, right in his boots, that it would be useless to attribute the big delay to the ignition of the FW42 – the car was only able to take to the track on the 3rd day of collective testing – with a single individual. 

A Williams spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening that Lowe, who arrived in Grove from Mercedes in March 2017, went on leave “ for personal reasons » without specifying for the moment what consequences this sequel would entail. As well as being appointed technical director, Lowe also acquired a stake in Williams when joining a team where he made his debut in F1 during the 1987 season. 

Under his leadership, the Grove team is coming out of its worst season on a sporting level, marked by a 10th and last place in the Manufacturers' standings due to a car with fundamentally flawed aerodynamics. 

Williams has since tried to restructure its technical department, which last year saw the successive departures of aero director Dirk de Beer, chief designer Ed Wood, and performance manager Rob Smedley. In the light of the Catalan roadworks, and despite this in-depth overhaul which is not yet finished, the newborn from the Grove workshops does not appear to embody the expected leap forward.  

With all the other fuses having already blown, Lowe no longer had anyone to hide behind to explain this prolonged slump. He is undoubtedly paying the price today. A big week before the start of the 2019 season in Australia, Williams finds himself without a technical director.