As part of its on-going mission to strengthen its technical leadership Williams has expanded its engineering team.

Jakob Andreasen (pictured), previously Chief Engineer at Force India, has joined as Head of Engineering Operations and will work under Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds. His focus will be on better integrating trackside operations with the continued design and development of the FW36 at the factory.

Andreasen is supported by two further appointments in Craig Wilson, Head of Vehicle Dynamics, and Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer. Wilson returns to Williams from Mercedes to strengthen the engineering team in applying vehicle modelling and analysis to help bring further improvements to on-track performance. Nelson joins from Lotus to head up the team's testing programme including leading the group at the factory that provide support and analysis from Grove over all race events.

Reporting directly to Andreasen, Max Nightingale is promoted to Head of Vehicle Science to ensure a focus on performance within the new structure which will improve the connection between race operations and on-going development work.

"Williams is determined to make strong improvements in our competitiveness over the coming seasons," said Pat Symonds, "and these new appointments continue our aggressive approach in recruiting some of the sport's best talent.

"We are also committed to allowing our existing talent to grow and showcase their skills in senior leadership roles. Our engineering team for the coming season is looking strong and I'm excited about what we can achieve moving forwards."

These appointments come in the wake of the team's announcement in December that Dave Wheater had joined from Lotus to become Head of Aerodynamic Performance, and Shaun Whitehead, previously of Red Bull, had been appointed Head of Aerodynamic Process, both reporting to Head of Aerodynamics, Jason Somerville.

Chris Balfe