Former Williams Head of Vehicle Performance, Rob Smedley ‘s new role with F1 has been confirmed with the Brit becoming the sport’s technical expert consultant.
Following his departure from Williams at the end of the 2018 F1 season, Smedley revealed that he was in talks with F1 for a role within the sport, which has now been confirmed with the Brit taking a technical expert work from 2019 onward.
The role will see Smedley use his 20 years of experience and add an expert voice to F1’s growing coverage across all platforms – although it hasn’t been made clear, but it is likely that he will be seen more on F1 TV and other social platforms of the sport.
“It’s about trying to get a coherent message in terms of the technical side of Formula 1,” said Smedley to F1’s website. “How the events unfolded, why people have made certain decisions, and putting that out across the various different platforms, and hopefully telling a better story of Formula 1.
“It’s about really bringing the inner beauty of Formula 1 to the viewer, to the fan. In conversations with Ross, we were both of the opinion that there’s this really rich seam of technical content, of data, of the way that teams operate, that actually never gets told.
“And it’s part of the whole story that underpins Formula 1, which actually the paying public, the Formula 1 fan, never ever gets to see – or they get to see very little of it. So there’s an opportunity in front of us to put that together at some level.
“It’s well documented that I’d taken a decision to have a little bit of time away from the coalface in the teams. But I still have a huge burning passion for Formula 1 and I hope that this is a way of me giving a little bit back to the sport.
“[Also] to explain what I’ve learnt over the last 20 years in Formula 1 as an engineer to the viewer; not only the technical side or the operational side, but the human side as well – of what it takes for all those women and men who work in F1 and commit their lives to it.”
F1 already has a Netflix programme in place which was widely shot during the 2018 F1 season and from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz’s social media, it became certain that the current launches are being documented as well for the 2019 season.
Last year, presenter Will Buxton was seen on F1’s Youtube and other platforms with his own shows and with F1 TV only gaining momentum, Smedley as a technical expert will help the sport reach out to the fans who will gain more knowledge with his simpler explanations.