ROKiT Williams Racing has confirmed the leave taken by Paddy Lowe ahead of the start of the 2019 F1 season for ‘personal reasons’.
Williams F1 team’s Chief Technical Officer, Lowe, has been granted ‘leave of absence from the business for personal reasons’, just a week from the start of the 2019 F1 season as the outfit continues to remain in turmoil despite looking for a fresh start.
Lowe had joined Williams ahead of the 2017 season – not just as its technical officer, but also as a shareholder of the team. The Brit came into the Grove-based outfit after winning multiple championships with Mercedes and even with McLaren.
It was a return to Williams for Lowe after working for the team between 1987 and 1993. However, his second stint did not start on a good note as the team struggled hugely in 2018 where they finished last with just seven points on board.
Several team members left during the season and were replaced duly. Even the drivers were left out with Lance Stroll joining Racing Point F1 Team and Sergey Sirotkin re-uniting with Renault as its reserve driver along with his sportscar racing programme.
Williams then took in 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell and grand prix winner Robert Kubica, whose fairytale return to F1 seems to be going out of sorts now. They also hired Nicholas Latifi in the reserve capacity, with fresh new sponsors on board too.
It hit a roadblock straightaway though as the FW42 wasn’t ready for the shakedown first and then also the first two days of the first Barcelona pre-season test. It made his maiden appearance on Day 3, as it only managed 88 laps between the two drivers.
The second test though went on a good note with solid laps in their kitty, but the pace certainly not looking great for the season ahead. Both Claire Williams and Lowe spoke to the media in the test and ruled out any drastic measures just yet.
However, with only a week remaining for Australian GP, news broke regarding Lowe taking leave from work for reasons personal to him and the team. Speculations has already begun for his removal or resignation, but the team doesn’t want to go into the details.
It could well be a personal matter indeed as well because Lowe is a shareholder of the team as mentioned above and so he cannot be removed or leave in the simple way like others have been from their respective post.