Racing
© Jonathan Borba
James Vowles says Claire Simpson joined Williams from Mercedes on the Friday of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, giving the Grove team a second senior technical recruit from Brackley in as many months as it tries to turn around a poor start to 2026.
Simpson arrives after more than 10 years at Mercedes, where she worked as a group aerodynamics leader. At Williams, she takes over as head of aerodynamic development and will work closely with chief aerodynamicist Juan Molina as part of the team’s wider technical rebuild.
Vowles, Williams team principal, revealed her arrival while speaking to the media in Miami. He said Simpson had “joined us today,” that it was “her first starting day,” and that the team would “go through and do announcements on this shortly.” He also indicated the recruitment push is continuing, adding that “some great people” are coming over the next three or four months.
The move follows Williams’ earlier hire of Dan Milner from Mercedes. Milner, who had served as chief R&D engineer at Mercedes, is now Williams’ chief engineer of vehicle technology, and Vowles said his influence has already changed the direction of the team’s work.
“The impact Dan has made is already very significant and very quick, and we are doing swathes of work that he has experience on, and actually, we've taken a slightly different direction as a result of his input,” Vowles said.
He added that “there is no resistance to change for greatness,” explaining that Williams will follow a new direction if it supports “a championship-level” ambition.
That urgency reflects Williams’ early-season position. The FW48 has so far proved uncompetitive, and the team has scored only two points, leaving it among the bottom teams in the constructors’ standings.
Against that backdrop, the arrivals of Milner and Simpson point to Vowles accelerating the technical reset at Grove, with more senior recruits expected in the coming months as Williams tries to rebuild toward a higher level.