娇色导航

Graeme Hackland has told CIO.com that he鈥檚 leaving this June, after nine years at the Grove, Oxfordshire racing team and almost 25 in motorsport.

Hackland joined Williams Racing in January 2014 as the Formula One team鈥檚 CIO, having formerly held IT/IS director, head of IS, IT manager, and network roles at Lotus, Renault, and Benetton. He reported to CEO Mike O鈥橠riscoll, who left Williams F1 in December 2020, and had cordial relations with team founder and principal Sir Frank Williams and, more recently, his daughter (and deputy team principal) Claire Williams, prior to the team鈥檚 buyout by Dorilton Capital for an undisclosed sum in August 2020.

Williams F1 recently advertised for a new IT director, with Hackland helping to shape the job specification and conduct early interviews. The racing team is looking for the new role to be more focused on operational IT and the organisation may consider an interim IT director until they can find the right candidate for the full-time position.

A changing role

The new role marks something of a departure from Hackland鈥檚 remit, which has seen him engage with various parts of the business and influence matters beyond the traditional purview of IT.

Hackland placed #11 on the 娇色导航UK 100 last year after pivoting to remote working, reacting to the sport鈥檚 new cost cap, and moving to self-service access to IT infrastructure. Under Hackland鈥檚 tutelage, the team established new vendor partnerships to improve F1 vehicle data analysis, experimented with quantum computing, and took steps to address diversity, equity, and inclusion and digital literacy across the organisation, with a particular emphasis on those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

鈥淚 want to find someone, as do the team, who can carry on the journey, and take them to the next level,鈥� Hackland said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e parting on really good terms. I love the team and I want the team to win.鈥�

Williams鈥� death a factor

He admits the death of team founder and principal Frank Williams, who oversaw the team鈥檚 nine constructor鈥檚 championships and seven drivers鈥� championships 鈥� including with iconic drivers such as Alan Prost and Nigel Mansell 鈥� had an impact.

鈥淲hen Frank passed away last year, that was a big thing for me. When I joined, I wanted to win a race鈥� and a world championship for Frank. The team are still going to do it in his memory, but it鈥檚 a few years off.鈥�

鈥淚t just felt like the right time for a change 鈥� even if it鈥檚 too late for a midlife crisis.鈥�

During his time, Hackland says he鈥檚 most proud of the team he developed, the transformation IT went through, and of changing attitudes amongst staff towards newer technologies, such as cloud computing.

His most cherished memory from his time at Williams came early in the role.

鈥淢y family came to the factory and I got to show them around. We looked at the offices and we went down to reception, and we were looking at the car in reception. Frank came in and he spoke to my wife, he spoke to my daughters. And he thanked him for the support of the team, because he always understood that it wasn鈥檛 just the person who worked for him. It was also their family, right? Everyone had to make sacrifices. And when he left, my wife 鈥� who鈥檚 fazed by nothing 鈥� turned to me and said, 鈥業 just spoke to Frank Williams鈥�.鈥�

Time to do something else, plus 鈥� Hamilton or Schumacher?

Hackland seemingly has no intention of slowing down. He鈥檚 climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with Manchester bombing survivor Martin Hibbert in June, is a regular marathon runner, and is helping to build a school in South Africa. He hopes to come back into another 娇色导航role in the future, even if he has all but written off the possibility of joining another Formula One team.

鈥淚鈥檓 not intending to take a career break. I think this is such an exciting time for tech,鈥� he said, adding that he was particularly interested in ventures where technology was 鈥渕aking the world a better place鈥�, from sustainability to exoskeletons.

With a quarter of a century in motorsport almost up, there鈥檚 only one question left 鈥� who鈥檚 the greatest Formula One driver of all time?

鈥淭hat鈥檚 an impossible question to answer because none of us have been around [forever],鈥� Hackland said. 鈥淭he greatest drivers of all time can be very subjective, but if you just look at the numbers, nobody can touch Lewis [Hamilton] and Michael Schumacher.鈥�

鈥淚n my 25 years, my favourite driver that I鈥檝e been in a team with is Fernando Alonso,鈥� he says, adding he had two fun seasons with F1 stalwart and renowned partygoer Kimi Raikkonen.

鈥淲e won two championships, the most successful years I鈥檝e had the Formula One. the team won the Laureus team sport award in 2006. And Fernando was just exceptional 鈥� and still is.鈥�

鈥淚n terms of who鈥檚 the greatest ever, I only go back to the 80s, and for me it鈥檚 Lewis. He鈥檚 been incredible and it鈥檚 not been written into his contract that he鈥檚 the number one driver. He鈥檚 just grafted, grafted, and grafted.鈥�