Whatever way one looks at it, it was dramatic, one minute he was technical boss with world champions Mercedes, then he was back with the team with which he had made his F1 debut as an control systems engineer in 1987, Williams.

When re-recruited by the Grove outfit, big things were expected of Lowe, who had joined McLaren in 1993 from Williams. progressing to the role of technical director in 2011 before replacing Ross Brawn at Mercedes in 2013.

However, rather than work a Midas touch at Grove, in Lowe's first full season, after returning in 2017, Williams slumped to bottom in the standings, its worst season in living memory.

Then came the debacle of Williams not having its 2019 contender ready for the start of pre-season testing last week, before eventually fielding a car on which there is clearly much work to do.

Even before the FW42 hit the track, there was speculation in the media, that at what some see as a time of crisis at Grove, Lowe might be among the first to pay the price and fall on his sword.

"I haven't paid attention to those sort of subjects in the media," He told reporters at Barcelona, when asked about the speculation over his role, as the FW42 enjoyed its best day to date in testing, George Russell completing 140 laps.

"I'm working very hard, there's an awful lot to do," he added. "We're working well as a team and at all levels in the company. I haven't got any concerns on that side."

Insisting that it would be wrong to "conclude anything so simple as to blame a person in what is an incredibly complicated set of circumstances and requirements", he continued: "What I've observed over many years in Formula 1 is there's quite often the habit of changing the people when things don't work. What I've also observed is stronger teams are the ones who do exactly not that.

"Every difficulty, problem in a team is an opportunity to learn," he added. "Not only not to repeat it, but to be even stronger next time. What you shouldn't do is get rid of people because you've thrown away that experience and that knowledge."

However, in the wake of last year's pitiful performance, which has seen a number of sponsors desert the team, mostly for Silverstone-based rivals Racing Point, not to mention the various personnel restructures and departures, Williams cannot afford another season like 2018.

Britain’s most successful constructor, in terms of constructors' titles, Williams should be hard on the heels of Mercedes and Ferrari, not attempting to play catch-up with Haas.

Check out our Friday gallery from Barcelona, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Ro, 01/03/2019 16:36

"Im sorry, but he just hasnt delivered. This is F1, so results are key indicators. Never mind the fact that you had a pair of muppets driving, but from being the fastest car in a straight line, the Williams has been slower than the local Ice Cream Van ! Put a young up and coming engineer in charge,. Its time to have a cleanout"

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2. Posted by Malbec, 01/03/2019 13:04

"Come on Claire, now is the time to take some tough decisions which you must not delay, Paddy Lowe has got to go before Australia as maybe have one or two others. Having been in business for many years it is plainly obvious all is not well within the team hence action needs to be taken before it is too late. Messrs Head, Brawn, Dernie, Symonds et al. must wonder how this once great team has fallen from grace.

I am sure there are some very talented young people at Williams who are ready to step into the breach and help to revive this once great team.

Management is all about taking some bold and maybe some unpopular decisions, I am sure you are perfectly capable of doing this but it must be done before it is too late so as I see it now is the time before another sponsor runs away. "

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3. Posted by GarH, 01/03/2019 9:17

"The Mercedes V6 was designed by Ross Brawn, Lowe joined the team when the car was all but finished. The kudos Lowe has received for the success of the V6 is out of proportion to the work he did on the car. Brawn's work appears to have been written out of the history of Mercedes.

I'm sure Lowe is against people being sacked when a team starts to fail, where was he when Williams had a clean out last year? I guess we know why Rob Smedley suddenly left the team. I've not heard Claire Williams saying Paddy Lowe is safe. If I read she's behind him, he needs to look out, 'cos in football that means the boss is about to push.
"

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Lowe denies concern over his future at Williams

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