JUNE 28, 2011

Williams makes additions to technical team

Williams F1 has announced two more additions to it's technical staff with Jason Somerville and Mark Gillan joining the team later this year.

Williams F1 has announced two more additions to it's technical staff with Jason Somerville and Mark Gillan joining the team later this year.

Somerville will take on the role as Head of Aerodynamics on August 15th, while Mark Gillan will join the team as Chief Operations Engineer in October. Somerville original joined Williams in 1997 and worked on the Le Mans 24 hour winning BMW V12 LMR, before moving to the F1 team. He later moved to Toyota and then Renault as Aerodynamics Project Leader before rejoining Williams. Gillan has a background in vehicle dynamics with McLaren, Jaguar F1 and Toyota before taking a professorship at the University of Surrey. He will join the team in October.

Williams is looking to strengthen it's technical team following the announcement that long-time Technical Director Sam Michael is leaving the team, and is being replaced by Mike Coughlan.

On the announcement, Frank Williams said, "Williams F1 is looking forward to welcoming Jason and Mark to the team. They bring with them talent, experience and good team skills. We now feel that, together with Mike Coughlan, Jason and Mark can form the right technical leadership to take the team forward as we work our way back to the front of the grid."