Head Down, Thumbs Up

Farewell to Patrick


Working in the background of an F1 team must often be a tiresome and frustrating business. Without engineers, technical directors, mechanics, strategists, developers, testers and the like, Formula One Cars would be disadvantaged beyond redemption. Despite this, when things go well it is the drivers who greedily lap up the plaudits, and when the tides turn it is often the car that gets fingers pointed at it.

For this reason, anyone who stays in the game of Formula One and makes a success out of himself in the way Patrick Head has merits a great deal of respect. Having founded the Williams team alongside the legendary Sir Frank Williams in 1977, Head oversaw the technical side of the team for nearly 30 years, during which Williams won 113 grands prix, as well as 16 championships. It was a long road to Formula one for Head, who worked for Lola and in Formula 5000 before him and Williams made the decision to enter their own team into motorsports' finest competition.

The success of Williams was established within just three years of its inception, with Alan Jones lifting the team to both Championships in the 1980 season. In this year, Head had actually developed the car himself and consequently had played a massive role in the success of the year. It was only after this that Head began taking the 'director' role, allowing his influence to bring triumph to the team for seasons to come.

The 80's continued to be fruitful for Williams, with their cars supporting the Drivers Championship victories of both Keke Rosberg and Nelson Piquet, as well as their own Constructors Championship wins of 1981 and 1986. However, it was the 90's that were probably most eventful for Williams and for Patrick Head. As the team began to underachieve by their own standards, Head made the decision to appoint a young, recently fired engineer called Adrian Newey. Newey's attention to aerodynamics and innovative designs gave rise to the famous Williams FW14 - a car that was simply unbeatable.

With drivers like Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost in the car, the team dominated Formula One in the 1992 and 1993 seasons, winning 20 out of 32 grands prix and sealing both championships in successive years. In 1994 however, things changed for the worse. Having signed Ayrton Senna in what seemed to be a match made in heaven, Williams looked destined for more greatness. However, Senna's driveshaft broke during the San Marino Grand Prix, leading to his infamous and tragic fatal accident.

The implications of this event were felt for a long time.  According to Adrian Newey, Head considered quitting Formula One at this point as he wasn't sure he wanted to be involved in a sport where he could be responsible for somebody's death.  The court case which attempted to find both Frank Williams and Patrick Head guilty of manslaughter dragged on for 11 years. Head was eventually found guilty, but according to Italian law could not be sentenced as the incident had occurred too long ago.

The team fought through the adversity and the Williams car managed to secure the Constructors Championship again during the 1994 season. Damon Hill was in the running to take the Drivers Championship as well, but a collision with Michael Schumacher ended his participation in the final race of the season. A furious Patrick Head suggested that Schumacher had caused the incident on purpose. It was somewhat typical of Head's usual outspoken nature, albeit it perhaps said more of his undying support for many of his drivers both past and present.

Williams won its last titles during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve converting impressive cars into Championship Winners. At the end of 1996, Adrian Newey decided to leave the Williams team on the basis that his ambitions to become technical director would never be fulfilled at the team whilst Patrick Head was still around. Despite this, Williams continued to be a successful team, albeit on a lesser scale than previous as McLaren and Ferrari began to dominate proceedings.

Williams continued to design race winning cars and employ talented drivers, but the team never really found the capabilities to challenge for another title. In 2004, Patrick Head stepped down as technical director and moved into the role of engineering director, which was seen by many as a self-imposed demotion. Sam Michael took over, but Williams continued to decline and Michael resigned during the early part of 2011.

Finally, Head rescinded his participation in Formula One last week, leaving behind a rich legacy of great F1 cars, Championship wins and one of the most iconic teams in the sport. His influence will continue to be felt through the great engineers that have worked under him, such as Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn. It's a shame to see him go, especially given the state of the Williams team in this current era. It well and truly is the end of something that was very special in Formula One. The team will always be Frank Williams', but for many there's no Williams without its Head.