Paddy Lowe

Patrick Allen Lowe (born 8 April 1962) is the founder and CEO of the fossil-free synthetic fuel company Zero. A former motor racing engineer and computer scientist, he spent 32 years working in Formula One, serving as Chief Technical Officer at Williams Racing, Executive Director (Technical) at Mercedes Formula One team, and Technical Director at McLaren. He was involved with cars that won 12 World Championships (7 Drivers' and 5 Constructors') and secured 158 race wins. He left Formula One in 2019 and co-founded Zero in 2020.

Early life and education Lowe was born on 8 April 1962 in Nairobi, British Kenya. He attended Sevenoaks School from 1976 until 1980 and graduated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1984 with a degree in Engineering.

Formula One career Lowe worked in Formula One over four decades, developing at least seven championship-winning cars. He was involved in cars that won 12 World Championships (7 Drivers' and 5 Constructors'), 158 Grands Prix, and 10 Autosport Racing Car of the Year awards, pioneering innovative systems including active suspension, traction control, automatic clutch control, active differentials, anti-lock brakes, driving simulators, and hybrid engines.

Williams (1987–1993) In 1987, Lowe was employed by Williams as Joint Head of Electronics. He spent six years at Williams, during which time he oversaw the development of active suspension, used to help Nigel Mansell and Williams win the 1992 Drivers' and Constructors' titles. In 2008, he led Lewis Hamilton to his first Drivers' title. He left McLaren in 2013.

Mercedes (2013–2017)

Lowe moved to Mercedes Formula One team as Executive Director on 3 June 2013. In 2015, Lowe was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He and his elder brother, Michael Lowe, were the first brothers to both be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. On 10 January 2017, Mercedes announced that Lowe had left the team and entered a period of garden leave.

Return to Williams (2017–2019) As part of a deal that brought Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes, Lowe returned to Williams as Chief Technical Officer on 16 March 2017. He replaced Pat Symonds, who left the team at the end of 2016. Alongside his technical position, Lowe became a shareholder in the team, making him the team's most senior figure. The Williams cars under his supervision, FW41 and FW42, turned out to be largely uncompetitive and relegated Williams to the bottom of the Constructors' Championship in 2018 and 2019, even missing the 2019 pre-season testing. On 6 March 2019, it was announced that Lowe would be taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. On 25 June 2019, Lowe left Williams with immediate effect.

Zero Petroleum Limited A proponent of synthetic fuels as part of the automotive industry's cleaner future, Lowe is the co-founder of Zero. Founded in 2020 as Zero Petroleum Limited, it is a British technology company that develops and manufactures whole-blend synthetic, non-biological, and fossil-free fuels including petrol (gasoline), diesel, and jet fuel. Its product is designed as an alternative to fossil-based fuels and a more scalable sustainable alternative to waste and biofuels. The process uses just carbon dioxide taken from the air and renewable hydrogen made from water; Lowe calls this process petrosynthesis. Synthetic fuels, which can be made at scale, can be dropped straight into the existing engines of cars, aircraft, commercial, and agricultural vehicles, allowing them to run sustainably in exactly the same way and with the same performance as they do on fossil fuels, without the need for any engine modification. They eliminate greenhouse gas accumulation through the creation of a circular carbon cycle, and so eliminate the need for fossil fuels in global industries such as aviation. Lowe, who has been described as "a former top F1 chief engineer who wants to transform the fuel industry", observed: "We're all hardwired to consider petroleum and fossil fuels as one and the same thing, but they're not. Fossil petroleum is a bad thing for the future, and it's becoming abundantly clear that we need to move away from it. But petroleum itself is a fantastic set of chemicals, both for energy and as the basis of everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals. It simply isn't feasible to move away from petroleum, so the question is how do we make it synthetically?"

Personal life Lowe is married to screen actress Anna Danshina. He has two children from a previous relationship: Noah Kelly and Finty Kelly. His brother, Michael Lowe, is a British mechanical engineer who is five years his senior and with whom he used to dismantle various bicycles and engines.

Awards and honours Formula One World Championships