Williams technical director Paddy Lowe is reportedly taking a period of leave from the team after their problems in pre-season.
While deputy team boss Claire Williams insisted no-one individually would be blamed for the delays in production which caused the British outfit to start testing over two days late.
Rumours had indicated that much of the heat was at Lowe's door because of a design flaw which had to be rectified in the process of developing the FW42.
The performance of the new car is also expected to be a little behind the rest of the field which means a continued stint at the back of the grid following on from last year's disaster which saw Williams only score seven points.
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"Lowe is taking a leave of absence from the business for personal reasons," a spokesman confirmed to Autosport.
It is understood, however, this does not signal the departure of the former Mercedes chief, who only joined Williams from the German manufacturer at the start of 2017.
