Williams Racing has promoted Adam Kenyon to the Head of Aerodynamics role as its reformation continues under James Vowles.
The iconic British team – winner of 16 World Championships – are rebuilding under the guidance of Team Principal James Vowles, with Pat Fry coming onboard last year to head up the technical department as Chief Technical Officer. Vowles, who only joined the team last February, has been working with Fry to strengthen the technical team with the Head of Aerodynamics a key role they wanted to fill.
David Wheater left the position late in 2022, around the time Team Principal Jost Capito and Technical Director FX Demaison departed, and has since returned to Enstone as Alpine’s Aerodynamics Technical Director. Speaking to F1.com, Vowles revealed that Kenyon – who has been with Williams since May 2021 and previously worked with Vowles at Mercedes where he rose to the role of Aerodynamics Group leader – has been promoted to the role of Head of Aerodynamics.
“Adam Kenyon is our Head of Aero – that was done without a big fanfare in March this year,” Vowles said. “I worked with Adam back at Mercedes and he was at Red Bull prior to that. He was chief aero but an extraordinary chief aero and, really, he was running the operation and doing a good job with it. I just wanted to make sure that he was able to take on the role because it was a large amount of addition to him.
“He’s doing brilliantly well with it. He’s restructuring and bringing in excellence and using the excellence we have to now not focus on one year but three or four years. And that’s a big change from what it was. We’re bolstering the team around him. In terms of Pat as CTO he’s doing a brilliant job. He’ll recognise as I recognise that there is so much to do. And you’ve got to be careful not to be pulled into the now and instead go into ‘let’s fix this long term’.”
Vowles revealed in Canada that the team are working hard in the job market to grow the workforce, the 44-year-old saying the team are in the process of signing some “big names” across their technical organisation. It is understood many of these signings will join from rival teams, following periods of gardening leave, and have extensive experience in Formula 1.
The British team are currently ninth in the constructors’ championship, courtesy of the two points Alex Albon scored in Monaco, and head to Spain hopeful of fighting for more after an encouraging weekend in Canada went unrewarded.
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[Note: The story is as per press release]