narain fan 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2006 Honda and Willis split 18 August 2006 On Friday the Honda Racing F1 team announced that the team's technical director Geoffrey Willis will leave the team. The team and Willis have reached a mutual agreement to conclude their working relationship. Before Willis joined Honda he was employed as chief aerodynamicist by the Williams F1 team and also worked as a consultant at the Leyton House team in the early 1990s. While at Leyton House, Willis met Adrian Newey and it was through this association that he joined Williams, after Newey was recruited by the British team. When Newey moved to rival McLaren in 1996 Willis was promoted, alongside Gavin Fisher, to take his role. In 2001 Willis joined the all new BAR team, which was bought by Honda last year. Geoffrey Willis said about his departure: "The last five years with the team has been a very challenging but rewarding time for me. It has also been a period of great change for the team and I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have helped to set and achieve new standards and establish the team as a technology leader in Formula One. It has been a great pleasure and an education to work with such an enthusiastic and capable group of people and I wish them every success in the future." Honda F1's team boss Nick Fry commented on Willis' exit: "Geoff has made an invaluable technical contribution to the development of our team over the last five years, leading to our 2nd place in the F1 Constructors Championship in 2004 and of course contributing towards the momentous occasion of our first win in Hungary two weeks ago." "His unwavering focus on the quality of our engineering and the introduction of robust engineering processes has provided foundations that will stand the team in good stead for years to come and pave the way for future success. I would like to thank Geoff both personally and from all our team. We wish him every success in the future F1RACING.NET Geoff Willis will be free to work for another F1 team from the end of the year. The former Honda F1 designer has now reached an agreement with the team over his departure and it is believed that there has been a financial settlement which will allow Willis to work elsewhere in 2007 GP.COM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fed up 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2006 Ted Kravitz seems to think he is on his way to Prodrive for 2008 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nojvnof1 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2006 I think Ted will be proven right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ecapdeville 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2006 its the same Willis Free on December 31, than "Free Willis" on your screens, December 31th? I thought it was a movie title... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autumnpuma 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2006 its the same Willis Free on December 31, than "Free Willis" on your screens, December 31th?I thought it was a movie title... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
