Head ends F1 involvement

One of the most well known and liked characters in the Formula One paddock has decided to step away from the sport.

Patrick Head co-founded the Williams team with Frank Williams in 1977 and has been an ever present face around Formula One for the past couple of decades.

The 65-year-old insists that he isn't retiring, but instead is intrigued by a new challenge working with Williams Hybrid Power.

'Certainly it is not the word retirement but I am not going to be directly part of the Williams F1 programme next year, I am going to be doing some work for Williams Hybrid Power, which may sound a bit dry and dull but it is actually quite high tech and quite interesting. However, it even sounds more dull, because albeit most motorsport activities are quite interesting, for the company, it is buses and intercity railways and that is where the commercial side shall be.' he told Autosport Magazine.

The Williams team have gone through big changes during the 2011 season, they have announced that they are switching to Renault engines for the 2012 campaign, former technical director Sam Michael has left the team for McLaren and an overall restructure of the team has taken place following its worst performance in Formula One.

In 2012 Mike Coughlan will be working as technical director, Mark Gillan will be chief operations officer and Jason Somerville will work as head of aerodynamics.

Head believes the restructure will see an upturn in fortunes for the team, but isn't expected instance success.

'I certainly think those three people are good and I am quite certain that they will lift the capability of the company upwards, but we have fallen to quite a poor level by quite a long way to go, It is not going to happen over a one year cycle.'