Williams returns to Renault

Williams returns to Renault

Williams will renew its iconic relationship with Renault from 2012, ending its deal with Cosworth earlier than planned.

Officially the new arrangement is for the last two years of the V8 formula, but it is expected to be extended into the turbo era from 2014. Under the new deal Williams will have a similar arrangement to fellow Renault users Red Bull, Lotus Renault and Team Lotus,

although the team insists that the partnership may extend into other areas. It already has road car links with Jaguar and Porsche. Williams was a works Renault-supported team from 1989-97 and won World Championships with Nigel Mansell (above), Main Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. The team then had two difficult years with customer Renault engines under the Supertec name before joining forces

with BMW. More recently it has been a customer of Cosworth and Toyota.

Meanwhile the team has announced two more key technical appointments as it restructures its technical department in the build up to the departure of Sam Michael at the end of the year.

Jason Somerville will return to Williams to take up the role of head of aerodynamics on August 15. He previously worked on the Williams/BMW Le Mans car and then moved into the Fl team in 1999, becoming joint head of aero. He then worked for Toyota and subsequently Renault.

Mark Gillan will join as chief operations engineer from October 1. Gillan has previously worked at McLaren, Jaguar and Toyota, and more recently served as a Professor of Vehicle Engineering at the University of Surrey.