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Rob Smedley reveals why he turned down F1 team principal roles
Rob Smedley has revealed he turned down F1 team principal roles because he was unwilling to be held accountable without having full control of a team
Lydia Mee
Edited: Aug 17, 2026, 10:10 PM
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Rob Smedley
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Former Ferrari and Williams race engineer Rob Smedley has revealed that he has recently been approached for Formula 1 team principal roles, but he turned them down.
Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast alongside former Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer and broadcaster Jake Humphrey, Smedley explained why he was reluctant to take a team principal job in F1.
While discussing Szafnauer's exit from Aston Martin, when the arrival of Martin Whitmarsh as Group CEO effectively stripped him of the majority of his responsibilities, Smedley explained: "I would have done exactly what you did, which is to say, 'OK, well, if I can't do it all, I'm not going to do it.'
"People like me and you, Otmar, we still get offered very senior positions in teams. So, I've been offered team principal positions.
"The reason why I didn't want to do it is exactly what you just said, because I think the team principal is accountable for everything. And you're not only accountable within the team; you're publicly accountable as well.
Rob Smedley, Head of Vehicle Performance, Williams
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
"If you've got that name on your door, you're publicly accountable. And you say, 'But hang on, I can only control like 20-30% of the team. What about the other 70%? I still have to stand up and be accountable for that.' It doesn't make any sense."
The former engineer explained he is not against taking a role with a lot of pressure, but only if he has control.
"I think in a team principal or a CEO position, you're accountable for everything, and when it goes wrong, you take the fall quite rightly," he added.
"You leave the team, you step down, or they publicly sack you. I've got absolutely zero problem with that whatsoever, because it's all on your watch. But when you only control half of it, that makes no sense whatsoever."
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