Sir Patrick Michael Head, FREng was born on 5 June 1946 and is a British motorsport executive who is the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team.
14 Facts About Patrick Head
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For 27 years from 1977 Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and responsible for many innovations within Formula One.
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Patrick Head oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004 when his role was handed over to Sam Michael.
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Patrick Head was born into motor sport, his father Michael racing Jaguar sportscars in the 1950s, and was privately educated at Wellington College.
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Patrick Head graduated in 1970 with a Mechanical Engineering degree and immediately joined the chassis manufacturer Lola in Huntingdon.
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Patrick Head was involved in a number of new projects all trying to become established as car builders or engineering companies and it was during this period that Patrick Head and Frank Williams met.
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Finally becoming disillusioned by his lack of success Patrick Head quit motor racing to work on building boats, but was lured back by Williams to join his team, which Patrick Head did during 1975.
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In 1977 the team raced a customer March chassis, but in 1978, with backing from Saudi Airlines and having signed Australian driver Alan Jones, the Patrick Head-designed FW06 made its first appearance.
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Four more victories followed in 1979 and Patrick Head was now an established Grand Prix car designer.
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However, Newey had ambitions to succeed to technical director, but this was blocked as Patrick Head was a founder and shareholder of the team.
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In 2004, Patrick Head moved to the position of Director of Engineering, as Sam Michael became Technical Director.
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In 2012, Patrick Head resigned from his position in the Williams team.
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Patrick Head continued his involvement in Williams Hybrid Power Limited until it was sold to GKN in April 2014.
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In March 2019, Patrick Head returned to Williams Racing for the first time in eight years.