20/12/2016
NEWS STORY
Williams has confirmed that Pat Symonds will step down as Chief Technical Officer at the end of the year.
Symonds, who enjoyed title success with Benetton and Renault, overseeing both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso's first titles, joined Williams at the end of 2013 after a stint as consultant with Marussia.
On a three-year contract with Williams, Symonds, who was for a while banned from the sport for his involvement in the infamous Crash-gate saga, helped oversee two of the Grove outfit's strongest seasons following a number of years in the F1 wilderness.
"Pat has been a tremendous asset to this team over the past three years," said Claire Williams. "Pat's appointment was the start of a major restructuring exercise, and he has been pivotal in reshaping Williams into what is a much stronger racing team today.
"I would like to thank him for all of his hard work and commitment during that time. We now look to the future and will be announcing details regarding the team's technical leadership in due course."
It is widely assumed that Symonds is retiring, while recent talk has linked Mercedes Paddy Lowe with the Grove team.