Rob Smedley follows Massa to Williams

Williams has bolstered its senior race operations line-up as it prepares for the 2014 Formula One World Championship season, with the appointments of Rob Smedley and Richard Lockwood.

The team welcomes Rob Smedley as Head of Vehicle Performance, a newly created position which will strengthen the trackside team whilst also supporting the development work back at the factory to help bring more performance to the car throughout the season. Rob's proven track record and experience stand him in good stead for the challenges that 2014 bring. Rob will join Williams prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Rob will be supported by Race Engineers Andrew Murdoch, who is engineer to Felipe Massa, and Jonathan Eddolls, who remains with Valtteri Bottas in 2014.

Richard Lockwood completes the trackside operation line-up, joining the team from Marussia as Head of Race Strategy. Richard will work with current Strategist Randeep Singh who remains with the team for the 2014 season.

Commenting on the new line-up Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer, said; "Williams is undergoing change and these new appointments reflect how high our ambitions are. We have a number of senior people joining us to assist us in the pursuit of those ambitions and I am extremely excited to welcome them on-board. 2014 gives us the biggest change to the technical regulations that I have seen in my career, and so it will be important to add further depth to the talent we already have here as we head into the new season. Williams has always prided itself on engineering excellence and this latest announcement is part of our continued goal to bring success back to the team."