Williams announced that Dirk de Beer has been appointed as the team’s new Head of Aerodynamics. He will join the company on 1 March 2017.
Dirk arrives at Williams with a wealth of experience. He began his career at Swift Engineering, where he worked primarily on IndyCar design. Then he went on to enjoy a brief spell at Sauber F1 Team as an Aerodynamicist. After that De Beer joined Renault (Lotus F1 Team) in 2008.
After five years in the role of Head of Aerodynamics at Renault he moved to Ferrari in 2013 as Chief Aerodynamicist. There he worked until announcing his departure from the team last season.
Commenting on the announcement Dirk said:
“I am extremely pleased to be joining Williams. The team has an incredible heritage in Formula One, and I’m proud to now be a part of that. I’m looking forward to working with Dave Wheater and the Williams aero team to help continue driving forward the development of the car throughout the season and beyond. I would like to thank Williams for giving me this opportunity.”
Deputy Team Principal, Claire Williams added:
“We’re delighted to have someone with Dirk’s vast experience joining us. Having spent several years as a Head of Aerodynamics in Formula One, his knowledge and technical expertise will undoubtedly be a great asset to the team in our continued push to restore Williams to the front of the grid.”
Dirk de Beer: “I’m looking forward to working with the Williams aero team to help continue driving forward the development of the car”
Meanwhile Claire Williams said that smaller teams might have an exciting future if Liberty Media changes the revenue distribution system in F1.
“Liberty have talked about trying to bring distribution of income to a much more equitable level in order to make sure we have a sport that thrives and is sustainable into the future. Williams is an independent team and our budget’s around the mid-point among other teams in our sport. For us in the middle, it gives us quite an exciting future. Because if they do bring about a more equitable distribution of income, obviously we will benefit from that”, Williams explained.
“We are a team that is able to thrive at that mid-range whereas bigger teams might have to compress what they do, maybe make people redundant if they put a cap on the number of employees or put a cap on spending through budget caps. So we’re looking forward to getting round the table and having those competitions.”
