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Williams F1 adds new staff, including McLaren COO Thynne
Williams has announced the signing of Piers Thynne from McLaren as its new chief optimization and planning officer, along with making three new additions to its technical staff.
Thynne has been part of McLaren since 2008 and rose to the position chief operating officer in early 2023, with the team going on to win back-to-back constructors’ championships in 2024 and '25. Williams has created a new strategic position that it says has been designed for him “to lead and transform manufacturing and operations at the team in pursuit of long-term success.”
Williams says Thynne will join the team in August, with the new arrival looking to emulate his success at McLaren.
“I am delighted to be joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team at what is a really exciting moment,” Thynne said. “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.”
Alongside Thynne’s arrival, Williams has also announced three other new hires. Claire Simpson joins from Mercedes as head of aerodynamic development, while Fred Judd becomes head of performance of optimization from Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains and Steve Booth arrives from Alpine as head of vehicle engineering.
“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,” team principal James Vowles said. “We are clear in our ambition to build a team that can win world championships, and Piers has unrivaled 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.”
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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