Doug McKiernan, Ex McLaren Chief Engineer, is to start his Williams F1 Journey this year. Williams believes that the move will enforce its team presence on F1 track.
McKiernan will be joining as the Chief Engineer of Williams Martini Racing Team, the company has announced. He will be working in a highly project focused position, closely with the senior technical team and will report to Paddy Lowe, the Chief Technical Officer.
Before retiring from McLaren in 2015, McKiernan had been on different designations. He had initiated his career with McLaren F1 Team in 1999. He progressed from Aerodynamic Analyst to Chief Aerodynamicist – Head of Aerodynamics – and finally led the team as Chief Engineer.
McKiernan said about his new role, “It is a pleasure to be joining Williams. The team has exciting plans for the future, and it is great to see the work already being done with the aerodynamic and engineering teams to produce the FW41, whilst also looking ahead to future cars as Williams continues its charge to move further forwards on the grid.
“The team already has a strong engineering department, and I hope that I can further add to that to continue driving forward the development of the FW41 and future cars.”
Paddy Lowe admired technical expertise of McKiernan and expressed his feeling about him joining the team, “Having worked with Doug closely between 2007 and 2012, I am sure that his talent and experience will significantly strengthen our team and we are delighted that he is joining us.”
Ex-Chief Aerodynamicist of Ferrari had also joined the Williams technical resources and will continue his role from March 1.
Claire Williams said, “We’re delighted to have someone with Dirk’s vast experience joining us.
“Having spent several years as a head of aerodynamics in Formula 1, his knowledge and technical expertise will undoubtedly be a great asset to the team in our continued push to restore Williams to the front of the grid.”
Lowe expressed his optimism for Williams after expanding the technical resources, “It has become clear that in order help move the team forward we need greater engineering resources.
“We have already started to make excellent progress, with Dirk de Beer our Head of Aerodynamics leading an invigorated aerodynamics team. The addition of Doug to the senior team, supporting our Chief Designer Ed Wood and Dirk in particular, will give us the breadth for more focus on technical strategy, and the optimisation of car architecture across design and aerodynamics.”
