Williams F1 and Hatch confirm partnership

Williams F1 and professional services firm Hatch announced today that they have created a partnership to develop new products and services for current and potential mining, energy, infrastructure and industrial clients. The partnership will also develop education initiatives to encourage young people to explore careers in engineering industries.

The partnership will see Williams F1 and Hatch combine their respective engineering capabilities to develop solutions that help their clients improve their businesses in a variety of real-world applications. These include safety; energy conservation, reduction and recovery; robust and reliable equipment design and maintenance; quality management; telemetry; logistics; high performance teamwork; and project management.

“This is a true partnership between two organizations that share a lifelong commitment to technical excellence and innovation,” said Robert Francki, Global Managing Director of Hatch’s Project Delivery Group, which houses the company’s global engineering team. “We see significant potential to apply innovations from the world of motorsport to the business challenges facing our clients in industries like mining and metals processing, energy and transportation.”

Williams F1 Co-Founder and Team Principal, Sir Frank Williams, said, “I am delighted to be able to announce this partnership as the collaboration with Hatch will help us to continue our goal of making the company’s Formula One-inspired technologies available through commercial applications. Through our Spark programme, we also aim to use our knowledge and expertise to increase education initiatives and road safety globally as well as promoting energy efficiency. This partnership allows us to greatly enhance our work in all of these areas.”

One area that the two organisations are already exploring is in the area of equipment maintenance. “Companies that operate heavy duty vehicles or equipment in harsh environments—like mining companies—are constantly battling to make sure these assets are operating at peak performance, just like a Formula One car,” says Francki. “We see opportunities for Hatch and Williams F1 to help our mining clients increase the availability of their vehicles and reduce costs by designing performance improvement programmes that suit the unique circumstances of each mine property—the same way Williams F1 adjusts the set-up of its cars to suit each race track.”

The Hatch and Williams F1 partnership is based on Hatch’s ongoing drive to add value to its clients’ businesses, and Williams F1’s push to widen the application of technologies it has developed for its Formula One cars. Engineers from each company will work together to develop and commercialise new technologies, while sharing knowledge and best practices across their engineering teams.

The two organisations will also build motorsport-themed workshops and develop mentors, road safety campaigns and internships that encourage young people to explore careers in engineering and motorsport. It will also provide a further extension to Williams F1’s award-winning Spark corporate responsibility programme, which focuses on three areas that are closely related to the company’s core activities of engineering and racing: energy efficiency, education and road safety.