Sidepodcast - All for F1 and F1 for all

F1 encyclopedia

Paddy Lowe

Formula 1 employee

Paddy Lowe
Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas
Vital statistics for Paddy Lowe
NationalityGBR
PositionChief technical officer
TeamWilliams Martini Racing

Paddy Lowe’s departure from McLaren came as a huge blow to the team he had spent over twenty years with, but Lowe was following in Hamilton’s footsteps for a new role at Mercedes. Joining Toto Wolff as an Executive Director, Lowe’s responsibilities fall on the more technical side, helping the team succeed with their triple championship success. At the end of 2016, he announced his departure from the team, moving to Williams for the 2017 season.

Biography

Paddy Lowe studied engineering at Cambridge University, and a couple of years after graduation joined the Williams F1 team. Working on the electronics side, Paddy was made joint head of the department before leaving for McLaren in 1993. Heading up the entire Vehicle Technology outlook, Lowe was in charge of development and innovation, working on things like the power-steering and braking in his first few years.

Lowe gradually moved up the ranks at McLaren, becoming Chief Engineer and then Engineering Director. In 2011, he took on the role of Technical Director, steering the team’s direction from the top. With the departure of Lewis Hamilton as well as some disappointing season results, Lowe left McLaren for another directorship at Mercedes.

Although joining an already crowded managerial team at Mercedes, Lowe stepped in to the newly created Executive Director (Technical) position, alongside Toto Wolff in a similar (Business) role. With the departure of team stalwart Ross Brawn soon afterwards, the pressure was on Lowe to help push the team towards a championship victory and he delivered, helping Mercedes take the world titles in 2014 and beyond.

In early 2017, after three consecutive world championships with Mercedes, Paddy Lowe confirmed he was leaving the team and after a period of intense speculation it was revealed he would be joining Williams for the coming year as chief technical officer.