Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe let it be known that his team had a recovery programme in place, what they failed to mention at the time was that part of the plan was to axe their head of aerodynamics Dirk De Beer.
De Beer joined from Ferrari last year and was previously at Sauber, Renault and Lotus. McKiernan joined from McLaren, where he was head of aerodynamics, earlier this year.
De Beer’s departure followed that of chief designer Ed Wood, who left earlier in May for personal reasons - two technical heavy hitters out the door with the team in crisis.
At the time of De Beer's appointment from Ferrari, it was seen as a coup of sorts for the Grove outfit and, in particular, Lowe who lured him to the team.
Deputy team chief Claire Williams said on the occasion of De Beers arrival at Grove, "We're delighted to have someone with Dirk's vast experience joining us. Having spent several years as a Head of Aerodynamics in Formula 1, his knowledge and technical expertise will undoubtedly be a great asset to the team in our continued push to restore Williams to the front of the grid."
But quite the opposite has happened, this year’s FW41 car has been a huge disappointment in the hands of teenager Lance Stroll and rookie Sergey Sirotkin, sinking the team to the lowest point in their illustrious history.
The FW41 had been presented in February with Lowe trumpeting that the team had “pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance”.
However the concept has produced a lemon of a race car, Williams failed to score a point until Stroll finished eighth in Azerbaijan at the end of April, and that remains the only race in which they have scored.
Stroll finished two laps down and last of those classified at the Monaco Grand Prix, while Sirotkin was one place ahead of the Canadian in 16th, the latter dismally off the pace all weekend at the principality.
Lowe, who put his hand up and took his share of the responsibility for the grossly inadequate Fw41, said, “The car isn’t good enough, it’s not what it should be. There are some issues with it, which fortunately we think we understand and we’re very busy doing a lot of work to fix those issues.”
“We have put in place a programme with the team, which we call a recovery programme, so you bring back the car back to the level we intended to operate.”
“That programme is timed up to the midseason point. I can’t guarantee anything. We just lost our way in some critical areas, which we now understand.”
Lowe summed up after the race in Monte Carlo: "A hugely disappointing day..."
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