Williams deputy boss Claire Williams insists the only focus is on “moving forward” in the wake of Paddy Lowe’s permanent exit.
In the midst of the team’s troubles in pre-season testing, the former Mercedes chief took a leave of absence which eventually resulted in his full-time departure last month.
For some Lowe was seen as the excuse for the delays and the flawed cars which have left Williams at the back of the grid, rather than the structural issues within the team.
However, ahead of the British Grand Prix, the daughter of founder Sir Frank, who celebrates 50 years at the helm this weekend, wouldn’t be drawn on the topic.
“As you can all imagine, I can’t go into any detail about the situation with Paddy except to say that the situation is resolved and he has left the team, and we wish him well for the future,” she told Racer.
“We’ve got to focus on the here and now, and the future, and that’s what we’re doing back at Grove in earnest.
“A lot of work is going on behind the scenes to make sure that we put Williams in the best possible position moving forward, from everyday moving forwards – not for 2020, not for 2021, but for right now.”
There has no been word yet on who might replace Lowe full-time, although Pat Fry, who recently left McLaren, is a name that has been linked.
In the meantime, however, Williams has full faith in the current technical team.
“Our chief designer Doug McKiernan, Adam Carter, our head of design, and Dave Robson who runs engineering trackside, they’re working really well together,” Claire stated.
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“I think as everybody has seen over the past few races, we’ve been able to bring new parts to the track, the majority of which have been adopted because they’ve shown greater levels of performance, and we’re slowly closing that gap.
“We’ve got more parts coming prior to the shutdown [summer break] that will hopefully bring greater performance to the car as well.
“We’re making good steps in the right direction, and that’s really nice to see.
“It’s been incredibly difficult for everybody at Williams over the last many, many months now, and it finally feels like we’re heading in the right direction again,” she added.
“There’s more of a spring in everybody’s step, so to speak.”
