Williams F1 confirms departure of chief designer

Williams has confirmed the departure of chief designer Ed Wood ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 race in Spain, citing “personal reasons”.

Wood previously worked with Ferrari and Renault before joining Williams in the role of chief designer in 2006, helping to oversee its rise to third in the constructors’ championship in 2014 and 2015.

When approached for comment by Crash.net, Williams confirmed Wood had left the team with immediate effect.

"We can confirm that Ed Wood has decided to leave Williams for personal reasons,” a spokesperson from Williams said.

“As Chief Designer, Ed has been instrumental in many successes during his time with the team, including the FW36 and FW37 cars which secured third place in the constructors’ championship in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

“The team would like to express its gratitude to Ed for his hard work over the past 12 years; his experience, skill and passion for engineering has been a huge asset to Williams.”

Williams’ technical team will continue to be headed up by former Mercedes chief Paddy Lowe, who joined the team at the start of the season.