The Grove team announced the hiring of a series of senior officials from various Formula 1 teams, including former Alpine technical director, Matt Harman. The five new additions are part of a group of 26 engineers that Williams hired in a large wave, with a special emphasis on strengthening his aerodynamics and design offices.
The new staff will depend on the technical director, Pat Frywho joined the team last November after leaving Enstone in 2023. The most prominent name in this announcement also comes from the French team, and resigned in 2024, just when the A524 was presented and it was discovered that he was one of the slowest on the grill.
Now, Matt Harman will become Williams design director, starting work after the summer break, while Fabrice Moncadeformer director of performance analysis at Ferrari, will join with him, as will former director of compounds and structures at Red Bull, Steve Winstanleyand Alpine’s performance director, Richard Frith.
Some will start working on July 15as John Molinathe former head of aerodynamics at Haas who will also don the blue jersey to play the same role. Meanwhile, the newcomer from Milton Keynes will be in charge of composites and structures, with the mission of “transforming the department within the design office.”
Richard Frith will become director of performance systems, but will not begin working with the team until 2025. Williams also hired former Hewlett Packard Enterprise employee Sorin Cheran as the new director of information and analytics. [CIAO] and, according to the statement, he must “lead a transformation of the way the team acquires, stores, indexes and uses data to build a world-class technology operation.”
Pat Fry, Williams Technical Director
Photo: Williams
This follows the revelation in early 2024 that the team was using a giant Excel spreadsheet to plan the build of its new cars at the start of each year, a process that left team principal James Vowles and Fry stunned. .
Speaking about the new hires to his team, Vowles said: “I am delighted to welcome these six incredible people to Williams.
“We are on a mission to fight our way back to the front and being able to attract experienced, championship-winning talent from other teams shows great belief in the path we are on.”
“Williams is investing in what it takes to win, and this is just the beginning as we prepare to welcome more new faces from across the grid in the coming months.”
The major recruitment drive is the latest development in Williams owner Dorilton Capital’s bid to improve the team’s results, which had declined sharply after years of low investment before the Williams family sold the team in 2020.
“Williams has bold ambitions and great drive, and these exceptional hires demonstrate that this is a project people want to be a part of,” Fry said.
“We are adding strength in depth to the tremendous talent already at Grove as we build for the future.”
