Williams poaches four senior leaders from McLaren, Mercedes and Alpine

Williams has announced the recruitment of four senior technical and operational leaders from rival Formula 1 teams, headlined by Piers Thynne, who served as McLaren’s chief operating officer from 2023 until earlier this year.

Thynne joined McLaren in 2007 as a gearbox programme manager, drawing on experience gained at transmission specialist Xtrac, and spent nearly two decades rising through the Woking outfit’s hierarchy. He will arrive at Williams in August as chief optimisation and planning officer, with a brief to modernise the Grove facility through robotics, AI and advanced manufacturing.

“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,” Thynne said. “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.”

The three additional recruits strengthen Williams across aerodynamics, power unit performance and vehicle engineering. Claire Simpson joins from Mercedes as head of aerodynamic development, having led the Silver Arrows’ aerodynamic group. Fred Judd, who oversaw Mercedes’ power unit engineering for customer teams, takes the role of head of performance optimisation. Steve Booth, Alpine’s chief engineer for the 2026 project, arrives as head of vehicle engineering.

Team principal James Vowles framed the signings as a continuation of deliberate, long-term investment. “We are clear in our ambition to build a team that can win world championships, and Piers has unrivalled recent experience in doing exactly that,” Vowles said. “Claire, Fred and Steve are extremely talented strategic recruits from throughout the paddock who will add to the foundations we have already put in place.”

Williams noted that the four new hires have collectively contributed to 12 championship-winning cars and bring more than 65 years of combined experience to the team.