Paddy Lowe has paid tribute to Rob Smedley after the latter’s departure from the Williams F1 Team at the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season.
Smedley announced mid-way through last year that he would be departing the Grove-based outfit to take time out of the sport to spend with his family, after spending a number of years in the Formula 1 community, starting with the Jordan F1 Team before a nine-year spell with Scuderia Ferrari, while the past five seasons has seen him act as head of vehicle performance at Williams.
He is particularly remembered for being Felipe Massa’s race engineer during his time with Ferrari and was reunited with the Brazilian at Williams up until the drivers own retirement from Formula 1 at the end of 2017.
Lowe, the chief technical officer at Williams, has paid tribute to his former colleague, and he insists that despite his departure there was never any decline in the relationship between them, and he says there are no regrets about the time they have spent together both in the factory and at the track.
“It’s been fantastic to work with Rob,” Lowe is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “He’s a great guy, a funny guy as well it’s been a real pleasure to work with him in the office, and also particularly on the pit wall, we have a good time out there, even in the depths of poor performance.
“Rob is moving on, but he wanted to make some changes in his life. Most particularly before I arrived he wanted to stop travelling and spend more time with his family, he’s been on the road for I don’t know how many years and he’s got a young family, and he wants to see a bit more of them. These things come along.
“We depart with a great relationship between Rob and the team and no regrets and great affection for the time we’ve had with him. I need to get those things said, because otherwise people make up their own stories.”
