Patrick Head facts for kids

Sir Patrick Michael Head, born on June 5, 1946, is a British motorsport leader. He is famous for co-founding the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years, starting in 1977, Head was the technical director at Williams. He was in charge of many new ideas in Formula One racing. He supervised the design and building of Williams cars until May 2004. After that, Sam Michael took over his role.

Early Life and Career

Patrick Head grew up around motor sports. 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. However, he soon realized that a military career was not for him. He left to study at Birmingham and later at UCL.

Head earned a Mechanical Engineering degree in 1970. He then joined Lola, a company that built car parts. There, he became friends with John Barnard. Barnard's Formula One car designs later competed against Williams's cars. Head worked on many new projects. During this time, he met Frank Williams. Head eventually felt disappointed by his lack of success in motor racing. He left to work on building boats. But Frank Williams convinced him to return to racing. Head joined Williams's team in 1975.

Founding Williams Grand Prix Engineering

In 1976, Frank Williams decided to start his own team again. He asked Patrick Head to join him. On February 8, 1977, Williams Grand Prix Engineering was officially founded. Frank Williams owned 70% of the company, and Patrick Head owned 30%.

In 1977, the team used a car from another company, March. But in 1978, with support from Saudi Airlines, Head designed the FW06 car. Alan Jones became their driver. Even though the team had little money, Head designed a good car.

The next year, Williams scored 11 points in the world championship. They finished 9th in the constructors championship. The team started to gain speed. In the fourth race of the 1979 season, Jones earned the team's first podium finish. Later that year, a car designed by Head won its first race. Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Four more wins followed in 1979. Head was now a well-known Grand Prix car designer.

Success in the 1980s

Head's car for 1980 was the best on the track. It helped Alan Jones and the team win both the drivers' and constructors' titles. This made Williams a top team in Formula One. More success came in the 1980s. Head started to step back from designing the cars himself. He created a new role: Technical Director. This person oversaw the entire process of design, building, racing, and testing. Frank Dernie became the chief designer.

During the 1980s, Head also came up with many new ideas. These included a six-wheeled car, tested in 1982. He also worked on a 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 races. Rules were changed, possibly due to pressure from other teams. They worried about how much time it would take to develop similar systems.

In 1986, Frank Williams was badly hurt in a car accident. Head and other Williams managers had to take control of the team. Despite this challenge, the team still won the constructors' title in 1986. They also won both the constructors' and drivers' titles (with Nelson Piquet) in 1987.

Dominance in the 1990s

In 1990, Williams hired Adrian Newey. Newey had recently been a technical director at another team. Head and Newey quickly formed an amazing design team. Their cars were incredibly dominant in the 1990s. This level of success had not been seen before. It was only matched later by Ferrari and Schumacher about ten years later.

Between 1991 and 1997, Williams won 59 races. They also won five constructors' titles. Four different drivers won world championships with their cars. Newey wanted to become the technical director. But Head was a founder and owner of the team, so this was not possible. After Williams won both titles in 1996, McLaren convinced Newey to join them. He had to take a break from working for a year before he could start at McLaren.

Changes in the 2000s

After Newey left, Williams was not as strong. They could win races sometimes, but they struggled to consistently challenge for championships. From 2000 to 2004, Ferrari and Schumacher were very dominant. During this time, Williams finished second in the constructors' championship in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, Juan Pablo Montoya came closest to winning the world title for Williams.

In 2004, Head changed his role to Director of Engineering. Sam Michael became the new Technical Director. After 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 a Grand Prix victory. This period ended when Pastor Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.

Recent Years (2010s)

In 2012, Patrick Head stepped down from his position at the Williams team. He continued to be involved with Williams Hybrid Power Limited. This company was sold to GKN in April 2014. In 2015, he was given a knighthood for his important contributions to motorsport. In March 2019, Head returned to Williams Racing after eight years. He came back in an advisory role.

Ayrton Senna Accident

In April 2007, an Italian court concluded that a technical problem caused Ayrton Senna's fatal accident. This happened at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Under Italian law, responsibility for such an accident must be determined. The court found that a steering column failure caused the accident. This failure was due to modifications that were not designed or carried out well. The court stated that Patrick Head was responsible for not overseeing these changes properly. However, no legal action was taken against Head or Williams' Chief Designer Adrian Newey. This was because, in Italy, there is a time limit for bringing such cases to court. The final court decision was made 13 years after the accident, which was past the legal time limit.

Honours and Awards

In 2002, Patrick Head was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). This is a high honour for engineers. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, Head was made a Knight Bachelor. This means he received the title "Sir" for his services to motorsport.

See also

In Spanish: Patrick Head para niños