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• Piers
Thynne joins as Chief Optimisation and Planning Officer from McLaren to
transform manufacturing capability and harness cutting-edge technology for
future success
• Former McLaren Chief Operating Officer was central to
the team’s Constructors’ Championship turnaround and will join Atlassian
Williams F1 Team’s senior leadership group
• Williams also announces raft
of senior recruits from across the grid, adding years of
championship-winning experience to the talent already at Grove
• Piers
Thynne: “Williams has clear ambition to be championship-level in all areas…I
can’t wait to play my part in that”
Atlassian Williams F1 Team is
pleased to announce the recruitment of Piers Thynne from McLaren as the
team’s new Chief Optimisation and Planning Officer, starting in August.
Piers joins Williams in a newly-created strategic role to lead and
transform manufacturing and operations at the team in pursuit of long-term
success.
As Chief Operating Officer at McLaren until January, Piers was
central to the operational and cultural transformation that underpinned
back-to-back Constructors’ Championships in 2024 and 2025.
Bringing
more than 25 years of operations and manufacturing leadership, he will join
the senior leadership group and be responsible for streamlining processes,
optimising resources and deploying cutting-edge technology including
robotics, AI and advanced manufacturing to modernise Williams’ facilities
and set a new benchmark in Formula 1.
Piers Thynne, incoming Chief
Optimisation and Planning Officer: “I am delighted to be joining Atlassian
Williams F1 Team at what is a really exciting moment. Williams has clear
ambition to be championship level in all areas and set new standards in the
sport, and I can’t wait to play my part in that as a member of the senior
leadership group. I have enjoyed a fantastic time at McLaren, helping bring
the team back to the top, and hope we will be able to do the same at
Williams.”
Piers’ appointment comes as Atlassian Williams F1 Team
also welcomes three new senior technical leaders, bringing years of
championship-winning experience to add strength in depth to the enormous
talent already at Grove.
Claire Simpson has been appointed Head of
Aerodynamic Development, joining Williams after 12 years at Mercedes where
she progressed to Group Leader and was a key part of the team that won eight
Constructors’ titles. The newly-created role will see Claire work in close
partnership with Chief Aerodynamicist Juan Molina to further strengthen
Williams’ aero capabilities.
Fred Judd is the team’s new Head of
Performance Optimisation, joining from Mercedes AMG High Performance
Powertrains where he served in a wide range of roles over 17 years including
Chief Trackside Engineer at Mercedes and leading the 2026 power unit
development programme. Having operated at the interface of power unit and
chassis performance throughout his career, Fred will provide expert
technical leadership to Williams’ Performance Systems Optimisation team
which has been built over the past 15 months.
Steve Booth has joined
Williams as Head of Vehicle Engineering from Alpine, where he was Chief
Engineer across the 2022 and 2026 regulation changes. Bringing more than 20
years of experience in F1, Steve was part of the Renault squad that won
consecutive Constructors’ titles in 2005 and 2006 and will run the
day-to-day technical and people requirements of car design.
Between
them the new recruits have worked on 12 championship-winning cars and bring
more than 65 years of experience to the team. They follow the arrival of Dan
Milner from Mercedes as Chief Engineer – Vehicle Technology in April, with
more senior leaders from across the grid to come over the next few months.
James Vowles, Team Principal: “I am thrilled to be welcoming Piers to
Atlassian Williams F1 Team as we continue investing in the people, processes
and technology to compete at the front in Formula 1. We are clear in our
ambition to build a team that can win World Championships, and Piers has
unrivalled recent experience in doing exactly that. I am also delighted to
welcome Claire, Fred and Steve - we are attracting extremely talented
strategic recruits from throughout the paddock who will add to the
foundations we have already put in place over the past few years and help
take us to the next level.” |
