Piers Thynne leaves McLaren Mastercard F1 Team for Atlassian Williams F1 Team

McLaren Mastercard F1 Team have announced that their former Chief Operating Officer, Piers Thynne, has left the team and will be joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team as their Chief Optimisation and Planning Officer in August this year.

Thynne had been part of McLaren since 2008 and held multiple positions, including being the team’s Chief Operating Officer between March 2023 and January 2026. He most recently held the role of Manager for McLaren’s Heritage Programme prior to his departure.

At Williams, Thynne will be the team’s Chief Optimisation and Planning Officer and work towards transforming manufacturing and operations. Alongside him, Williams have also signed Claire Simpson and Fred Judd for their Formula One division, with Simpson joining the team as their Head of Aerodynamic Development and Judd taking up the role of Head of Performance Optimisation. Both Simpson and Judd are arriving from Mercedes.

Additionally, McLaren have signed Steve Booth from Alpine as their Head of Vehicle Engineering.

Piers Thynne, incoming Chief Optimisation and Planning Officer, Williams Racing, commented:

“I am delighted to be joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team at what is a really exciting moment. Williams has clear ambition to be championship level in all areas and set new standards in the sport, and I can’t wait to play my part in that as a member of the senior leadership group. I have enjoyed a fantastic time at McLaren, helping bring the team back to the top, and hope we will be able to do the same at Williams.”

James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing, said:

“I am thrilled to be welcoming Piers to Atlassian Williams F1 Team as we continue investing in the people, processes and technology to compete at the front in Formula 1. We are clear in our ambition to build a team that can win World Championships, and Piers has unrivalled recent experience in doing exactly that. I am also delighted to welcome Claire, Fred and Steve – we are attracting extremely talented strategic recruits from throughout the paddock who will add to the foundations we have already put in place over the past few years and help take us to the next level.”