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Williams announce new additions to technical line-up

Williams have revealed on Tuesday that Jason Somerville will become the team's head of aerodynamics and Mark Gillan has been appointed chief operations engineer. Somerville and Gillan will work with chief engineer Mike Coughlan on the team’s current race car and on the development of 2012’s FW34.

“Williams F1 is looking forward to welcoming Jason and Mark to the team,” said team principal Frank Williams. “They bring with them talent, experience and good team skills. We now feel that, together with Mike Coughlan, Jason and Mark can form the right technical leadership to take the team forward as we work our way back to the front of the grid.”

Somerville already has a history with Williams - he joined the company in 1997 as the aerodynamicist responsible for the design and development of the sports car that won the 1999 Sebring 12 hours and Le Mans 24 hours for Williams and BMW. He moved over to the Formula One team in 1999 where he worked on the race-winning FW23, FW24 and FW25 and was promoted to joint-head of the aerodynamics department.

He moved to Toyota F1 in 2003, where he became deputy head of aerodynamics. Following Toyota’s withdrawal from the sport at the end of 2009, Somerville joined Renault F1 as the aerodynamics project leader where he played a significant role in this year’s innovative R31.

Gillan, meanwhile, brings a proven background in vehicle dynamics and race operations to the team. His Formula One career started at McLaren as a vehicle dynamicist in 1998, a position which saw him assist in the team’s 1998 and 1999 championships, before promotion to principal operational aerodynamicist in 2001. In 2002, Gillan moved to the Jaguar F1 Team as head of vehicle performance and chief race and test engineer.

At the start of the 2005 season, he left what is now Red Bull Racing to take up a professorship at the University of Surrey before moving to the Toyota F1 Team as head of aerodynamics. Upon concluding his contract with Toyota, Gillan returned to the University of Surrey as professor of vehicle engineering, while consulting on aerodynamics with a leading Formula One team.

Somerville will start work at the Williams factory on August 15, whilst Gillan will begin on October 1.

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)