Defiant Lowe can't turn around Williams 'single handedly'

Williams technical director Paddy Lowe is confident the beleaguered team can return to its former glory but insists he can't turn around its fortunes on his own.

After enduring one of the worst seasons in its history, Williams has entered its 2019 campaign on the back, the Grove-based outfit rolling out its FW42 with a considerable delay following the emergence of build-up problems.

The team's belated start led to speculation regarding Lowe's accountability, but the 56-year-old engineer, who also happens to be a Williams shareholder of Williams, insisted that he would remain on the job and help the team move forward.

• Williams adamant FW42 delay not linked to suppliers or budget

"Absolutely, but I won’t do it single handed, said Lowe when queried by the media in Barcelona about the prospect of a turnaround.

"This is a team effort and we’ve certainly got some very strong people in the team.

"There’s a great job to be done and a great job of work and we certainly don’t underestimate the challenge there.

"We have 10 fantastic teams in the sport these days, they are all highly professional and sophisticated – that was not the case in the past in Formula 1, so I think we should celebrate that.

"But inevitably it leaves some at the front, some at the back, and some in the middle and we’ll keep moving forwards as best we can.

"But I’m confident we can do so. Given time, we can turn this team back to its days of former glory."

Earlier this week, Claire Williams said an internal investigation was underway to determine the causes of the team's unforeseen build-up delay.

While his accountability was not put on the line, Lowe was asked if he felt he still had the full support of Williams.

"Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The top team in Formula 1 is the most important team and I work very closely with Claire," he said.

"I’m working very hard, there’s an awful lot to do and we’re working well as a team.

"Quite often the habit is to change people when things don’t work. But what I’ve also observed in Formula 1 is that the stronger teams are the ones that don’t do that.

"Every problem within a team is an opportunity to learn. When you have an issue, you take that learning and you turn it into an advantage.

"I’m not aware of any different view."

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