Lets talk about Patrick Head...

[Knowlesy]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
I'm sure he loved what Nige did with the Williams F1 cars, but did he like all the hassle he got with it? How when Nigel won it was because of Nigel and when he lost it was because of the car?

I'm sure Patrick ignored that aspect of Mansell though. After a total of 6 and a bit seasons together you'd hope so! And Mansell helped drive the team on, includuing Renault and Elf, to produce better things. I think that is what Patrick admired most - his motivational skills. (despite his whingeing idiocy, at times!)

As for Riccardo, he liked him a lot as a person and always described him as one of the best, very quick.

[krt917]

And Patrick likes racers - drivers who take the car and give it a good thrashing whatever. Nige was one of these, as was Jones, so I think Head may well have been prepared to put up with Nige's other traits.

I'm sure I've read that after Jones quit (Williams and, temporarily, F1) at Monza in 1981, leaving the team with only one driver, Head and Williams decided that drivers weren't the be-all and end-all. If a friend could be that inconsiderate to them, then they wouldn't be so friendly with drivers any more.

That kind of rings ture when you think of Keke's old remark about the team never forgiving him for not being Alan Jones!

[glyn parham]

I think you will find that it was Robin Herd who rallied the Metro and bought a football club amongst other things.

[kartingdad]

Oh well pity I was wrong, but glad he didn't buy a football team after all. Thought it was a weird thing for a proper bloke to buy!

[Heebeegeetee]

Patrick Head - I love the bloke. Wish there were more like him in F1, but I guess he's uniue. We certainly don't get to hear enough of his pearls of wisdom, nor of the short shrift he often hands out to drivers.
I recall he liked Keke Rosberg. I recall a quote about his qualifying performances that went something like: "he'd flick his fag out, drag his bracelet over the side of the cockpit, and go for it."

[Led ZeppF1]

I think Patrick Head is one of the greatest F1 engineers of all time. He was as good as the other greates F1 engineers like Colin Chapman, maybe better.

Chapman was in F1 at a time when the technical team only consisted of a designer, one or two draughtmen and one or two technicians. Generally, Chapman was in F1 at a time when one engineer would be running the show for the team.

Patrick Head became technical director for Williams towards the end of that "one engineer " period.

In 1978, Patrick Head designed the first Williams car with the help of his draughtmen, Neil Oatley and Frank Dernie and 1979, the second Williams car won the championship at the hands of Alan Jones.

Based on looking at how Williams and its technical staff have evolved from 1978 to now, it can be said that Patrick Head is probably one the few engineers that have successfully moved from "one engineer" era to a modern "supervising" techinical director role.

Patrick Head also has a talent for spotting young talented engineers, like Frank Dernie, Neil Oatley, Ross Brawn, Adrian Newey, Eghbahl Hamidy, Geoff Willis, John Sutton, and others.

So, people generally refer to Williams as the "Williams school of F1 Engineering".

[Patrese256]

Originally posted by knowlesy
As for Riccardo, he liked him a lot as a person and always described him as one of the best, very quick.

Patrick very kindly contributed a quote for my Riccardo Patrese website:

"Riccardo was always a pleasure to work with. He had a fierce determination to perform at his best, but in all circumstances he was a great team member. He is remembered fondly still by many at Williams."