Patrick Head facts for kids

Sir Patrick Michael Head, born on June 5, 1946, is a famous British engineer in the world of motorsport. He is best known as the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years, starting in 1977, Patrick Head was the main technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering. He was in charge of many new ideas and designs in Formula One racing. He looked after the design and building of Williams cars until May 2004.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Patrick Head grew up around motor racing because his father, Michael, raced Jaguar sports cars in the 1950s. Patrick went to Wellington College for his education. After school, he joined the Royal Navy, but he soon realized that a military career wasn't for him. He left to go to university, first in Birmingham and then at UCL.

Patrick Head finished university in 1970 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He quickly joined a company called Lola, which built car parts. There, he became friends with John Barnard, who later designed Formula One cars for other teams like McLaren and Ferrari. Patrick Head worked on many new projects, trying to help companies build cars or become engineering firms. During this time, he met Frank Williams.

Starting Williams Grand Prix Engineering

After a while, Patrick Head felt a bit disappointed with his lack of success in motor racing. He decided to leave and work on building boats instead. However, Frank Williams convinced him to come back and join his racing team in 1975.

In 1976, Frank Williams decided it was time to start his own racing team again. He managed to get Patrick Head to join him. On February 8, 1977, Williams Grand Prix Engineering was officially started. Frank Williams owned 70% of the company, and Patrick Head owned 30%. In 1977, the team used a car from another company. But in 1978, with support from Saudi Airlines and a new driver named Alan Jones, the first car designed by Patrick Head, called the FW06, appeared. Even though the team didn't have much money, Patrick Head still designed a very good car.

The next year, the Williams team started to gain momentum. They scored 11 points in the world championship, finishing 9th among all the car builders. In the fourth race of the 1979 season, Alan Jones achieved the team's first podium finish (meaning he finished in the top three). That same year, a car designed by Patrick Head won its first race. This happened when Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Four more victories followed in 1979, and Patrick Head was now known as a top Grand Prix car designer.

Success in the 1980s

Patrick Head's car for the 1980 season was the best on the track. It helped Alan Jones and the Williams team win both the drivers' and constructors' championships. This made Williams a top team in Formula One. As the 1980s continued, Patrick Head started to move away from designing every car himself. He created a new role called Technical Director. In this role, he would oversee all the design, building, racing, and testing processes. He brought together all the different parts of the team.

During the 1980s, Patrick Head also came up with many new ideas. These included a six-wheeled car, which was tested in 1982. He also worked on a special gearbox called continuously variable transmission. This system would have allowed the engine to stay at its best speed during the entire lap. However, neither of these systems was used in actual races because the rules changed. Many people believe these rule changes happened because other teams were worried about how much time and money it would take to develop similar systems.

In 1986, Patrick Head and other Williams managers had to take control of the team. This happened when Frank Williams was seriously hurt in a car accident. Even with this challenge, and under Patrick Head's leadership, the team still won the constructors' championship in 1986. They also won both the constructors' and drivers' titles (with Nelson Piquet) in 1987.

The 1990s and a Powerful Partnership

In 1990, Williams hired Adrian Newey, another talented engineer. Patrick Head and Adrian Newey quickly formed an amazing design team in the 1990s. The cars they designed together were incredibly dominant, meaning they won almost all the time. This level of success had not been seen before and wasn't repeated until the Ferrari team with Michael Schumacher a decade later.

Between 1991 and 1997, Williams cars won fifty-nine races. They also won five constructors' championships, and four different drivers became world champions with their cars. Adrian Newey wanted to become the technical director, but this was not possible because Patrick Head was a founder and part-owner of the team. After Williams won both championships in 1996, another team, McLaren, managed to hire Adrian Newey.

Changes in the 2000s and 2010s

After Adrian Newey left, the Williams team often struggled to win consistently. During the time when Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were very dominant (from 2000 to 2004), Williams managed to finish second in the constructors' championship in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, one of their drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya, came very close to winning the world title.

In 2004, Patrick Head moved to a new role as Director of Engineering. Sam Michael then became the Technical Director. After Patrick Head's move, Williams's performance continued to decline. After Montoya's win at the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, the team went a long time without winning a Grand Prix. This period ended when Pastor Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.

In 2012, Patrick Head stepped down from his position at the Williams team. He continued to be involved with Williams Hybrid Power Limited, a company that worked on hybrid technology, until it was sold in April 2014. In 2015, he was given a special honor and became a knight for his important contributions to motorsport. In March 2019, Patrick Head returned to Williams Racing for the first time in eight years. He came back in a special advisory role.

Ayrton Senna Accident Information

In April 2007, an Italian court looked into the fatal accident of driver Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. The court concluded that a technical problem with the car's steering column caused the accident. This problem was due to changes that were not designed or carried out well. The court found that Patrick Head had a responsibility for checking these modifications. However, no legal action was taken against him because, in Italy, there is a time limit for such cases, and the final decision was made 13 years after the accident.

Awards and Recognition

In 2002, Patrick Head was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). This is a special honor for engineers. In 2015, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor by the Queen for his important contributions to motorsport.

See also

In Spanish: Patrick Head para niños