Patrick Head

Sir Patrick Michael Head, born on 5 June 1946, is a British motorsport executive and the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. He graduated in mechanical engineering from University College London in 1970 and joined the chassis maker Lola in Huntingdon, where he formed a friendship with John Barnard, before leaving racing to build boats and being lured back by Frank Williams in 1975. On 8 February 1977 Williams Grand Prix Engineering was founded with Williams and Head taking seventy and thirty per cent of the company. For 27 years from the 1977 season Head was its technical director, responsible for many innovations in Formula One, and he oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004, when the role passed to Sam Michael. His FW06 was the car that first appeared in 1978.