AUGUST 30, 2000
Williams and Robinson part company
BMW-WILLIAMS have announced that Senior Operations Engineer James Robinson will be leaving the team immediately, but have not yet lined up a replacement.
The team's Media Manager, Nav Sidhu said: "James Robinson will be leaving Williams at the end of the year, but he will no longer be active in the position of Senior Operations engineer as of Tuesday.
"We cannot, at this stage, divulge the reasons why. More detail will become available in the next few days, but until then we are not prepared to offer any further comment on why James Robinson and Williams have parted company."
Robinson originally joined Williams in 1985, but left four years later to join Arrows and then McLaren. He returned to the Grove-based team in 1996 and was responsible for co-ordinating the whole engineering process from the design office to the racetrack.
It is unknown where Robinson will move, but is certain that he will be forced to take some time off before he joins another team. Williams will have to wait to decide on a replacement, but it is possible that Sam Michael will fill the position having confirmed his departure from Jordan.
Sidhu added: "The senior engineering tasks will be redistributed among the operations group and we are confident that they will be well conducted. We will make an announcement as to who will replace him in due course."