Pat Symonds leaves Williams as Paddy Lowe waits in wings

Williams chef technical officer Pat Symonds will leave the team at the end of this month, at the conclusion of his three-year contract.

Symonds made his name at Benetton/Renault, helping Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to World Championships, before leaving after the Singapore GP “crashgate” scandal in 2008. He was briefly with Manor GP before joining Williams.

His departure means that it is likely that Paddy Lowe will soon be announced as the team’s technical chief.

“Pat has been a tremendous asset to this team over the past three years,” said Claire Williams. “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.”