JULY 10, 2009

Willis leaves Red Bull Racing

Geoff Willis, the technical director of Red Bull Racing, has left the team. According to team sources he was made redundant and his position has been eliminated.

Geoff Willis, the technical director of Red Bull Racing, has left the team. According to team sources he was made redundant and his position has been eliminated.

Willis made his name at Williams in the 1990s, working with Adrian Newey and later with designer Gavin Fisher, under the guidance of Patrick Head.

He moved to British American Racing in 2002 and the team built up to becoming a competitive force in 2006 before the Japanese decided to remove Willis and put their own man in charge. This was a disaster. Willis stayed out of F1 for a year and then joined Red Bull, his job being to provide stability and structure to the technical team while Newey worked on design and development.

His departure must thus be seen as a setback for the team, which is currently riding high with the success of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.