Williams and their beleaguered technical director Paddy Lowe have parted company over the team’s embarrassing start to 2019.

Sportsmail has been told that the Cambridge graduate has paid for his failure to get the car ready in time for pre-season testing in Barcelona last month.

The car finally arrived two days late - a humiliating delay for the third most successful team in Formula One history.

Williams and technical director Paddy Lowe have parted company after their poor start to 2019

Lowe lost the confidence of engineers and management, and the only question was whether he would survive long enough to travel to Melbourne for the opening race on March 17.

On Wednesday night, Williams said that the 56-year-old had, ‘taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.’

Lowe spent the winter assuring concerned executives that the car would be ready on schedule. But it is understood from team resources that he missed deadline after deadline during the building process at the factory in Grove, Oxfordshire.

Lowe started his career at Williams. He then took a senior role in Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren team before linking up with the Briton again at Mercedes.

Lowe has paid for his failure to get the car ready in time for pre-season testing in Barcelona

He finally rejoined Williams in 2017. Last year’s car, developed on his watch, was the slowest on the grid. This season’s model showed little competitive improvement when it finally took to the track in Spain.

Lowe’s departure, which is expected to be made permanent, was communicated to senior Formula One figures on Wednesday.

Lowe is a Williams shareholder and how this involvement is resolved remains to be seen.