Former Jaguar managing director Mike O’Driscoll, the man credited with overseeing the British automaker during its transition from Ford’s Premier Auto Group to new owner Tata, has been announced CEO of the Williams F1 Team.
O’Driscoll’s newly created role will see the Williams F1 Team and the separate Williams Advanced Engineering division united under a single management structure for the first time.
The once glorious F1 team has been undergoing a major managerial shakeup over the past couple of years, with even team founder Sir Frank Williams resigning from the board last year.
The 71-year-old still serves as Team Principal, with his daughter Claire Williams serving as Deputy Team Principal.
O’Driscoll will lead the team’s executive committee and will report directly to Sir Frank Williams and the Williams Grand Prix Holdings board.
“I am honored that the board has entrusted me with the position of CEO,” O’Driscoll said in a statement. “I have been proud to serve as a non-executive director since 2011 and in my new role, I am very much looking forward to helping Sir Frank and Claire achieve the ambitious goals we have set ourselves.”
Sir Frank Williams also said in a statement, “Mike brings with him significant skills and a wealth of experience. Working with Claire, I am in no doubt that the future of Williams is in safe hands.”
The Williams F1 Team and its engineering division has been involved in a number of activities outside of F1 lately. In 2011 it partnered with Jaguar to co-develop a production version of the C-X75 supercar concept, though the project has since been disbanded. There’s also talk that Renault is considering co-branding some of its performance cars with Williams, just as it did with the Clio Williams of the early 1990s.
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