WILLIAMS REVAMPS TECH TEAM
Two years after parting company with former technical director Paddy Lowe, Williams has filled the role in the course of making two key appointments. Both individuals are high achievers in motorsport and have worked closely with new Williams CEO Jost Capito.
Significantly, Capito has fished outside the established Formula 1 talent pool to fill the technical director role. 52-yearold Francois-xavier Demaison has an illustrious engineering record which encompasses a stint on Peugeot’s F1 project in the 1990s, followed by work in touring cars and the World Rally Championship for Peugeot, Renault and Subaru, before embarking on a long stint at Volkswagen under Capito.
While at VW Demaison, known in the industry as ‘FX’, oversaw development of the multiple championship-winning Polo R and the experimental ID. R electric vehicle which smashed records at the Nürburgring and the Pikes Peak hillclimb. He brings a reputation not only as a smart, intuitive and rigorous engineer, but also an excellent organiser and motivator. It is these facets which are most tested in modern F1, where the complexity of the cars is such that many designers working in sub-groups are required to create a finished product.
Capito told the BBC that Demaison was “a brilliant engineer who has the right attitude and the right culture and brings something new to the team”. Since work on the 2022 car to the new technical regulations is well underway, he wanted to bring in someone who could bolster and support the talent already working within the team rather than seeking to start again from a blank sheet.
“You have to trust in what the engineers have done so far and you have to add something instead of changing,” Capito added. “This is where I have seen FX being highly intelligent and capable in building these relationships. Because the 2022 car is already far advanced, you have to add to it and not change the philosophy. He is a brilliant engineer and that counts more than having someone with huge experience in F1.”
Capito has also hired ex-bmw-sauber technical director Willy Rampf in a part-time consultancy role to assist with Demaison’s F1 learning curve. Rampf left Sauber in 2010 to head up VW Motorsport, latterly acting as a consultant when Demaison succeeded him.
During his time in F1 Rampf race-engineered Heinz-harald Frentzen at Sauber before becoming the Swiss team’s chief race engineer, then its technical director from 2000 onwards.
“DE MAISON IS A BRILLIANT ENGINEER AND THAT COUNTS MORE THAN HAVING SOMEONE WITH HUGE EXPERIENCE IN F1” JOST CAPITO