CONFIRMED: Symonds to leave Williams

Williams has confirmed chief technical officer Pat Symonds will leave the team at the end of the year.

Symonds joined in 2013 and helped lead the team to consecutive third-place finishes in the constructors' championship before it slipped to fifth place this year. Coming to the end of his three-year contract, Williams has now confirmed the 63-year-old will leave the team on December 31.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams praised Symonds for the impact he has had on the team since his arrival.

“Pat has been a tremendous asset to this team over the past three years,” Williams said. “Pat’s appointment was the start of a major restructuring exercise, and he has been pivotal in reshaping Williams into what is a much stronger racing team today.

"I would like to thank him for all of his hard work and commitment during that time. We now look to the future and will be announcing details regarding the team’s technical leadership in due course."

Williams has been linked with a move for Mercedes executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe, who is believed to be moving closer to a senior technical role at Grove.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.