Williams hires former Lotus IT director

Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC has announced the appointment of Graeme Hackland to the position of IT Director. In this role Graeme will have overall technical, operational and delivery responsibility for all IT projects within the Williams Group, encompassing both the Williams F1 Team and Williams Advanced Engineering.

Graeme will also join the Group's Executive Committee. Graeme joins Williams from the Lotus F1 Team where he held the position of IT/IS Director. Graeme originally joined Benetton Formula Ltd in 1997 in the position of Network Support Analyst and was subsequently promoted to IT Manager in 2002 and Head of IS in 2009, taking on the IT/IS Director role in 2010.

Speaking about his appointment, Graeme Hackland said: "I'm proud to join the Williams Group as IT Director. The Williams F1 Team has engineering excellence at the heart of its DNA, and Williams Advanced Engineering has an enviable reputation for world class technical innovation. I'm excited to play a part in the future success of Williams, bringing my love of applying technology to complex business challenges, especially at a time of major change within Formula One's technical regulations."

Group CEO, Mike O'Driscoll, added: "We are delighted to welcome Graeme to Williams in this newly created role. As a rapidly expanding high technology business it is important that we continue to invest in the very best IT facilities and personnel. Graeme is the ideal person to direct our IT infrastructure moving forwards and his vast knowledge of the Formula One operating environment will be particularly invaluable."