Former Williams technical director Patrick Head has received a knighthood in Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday honours list, which has just be announced.

The 69-year-old Head thus joins his longtime business partner Sir Frank Williams and the likes of Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart on the list of motor racing people who have received the honour.

Williams said of Head: “My name may be above the door, but I have always stressed that the creation and subsequent success of Williams was very much a team effort. My co-founder Patrick Head was the design genius who turned us from a small upstart into a World Championship winning force.

“His engineering talent helped play a key role in establishing Great Britain as a leading force in global motorsport and the benefits of this are still being felt to this day, both culturally and economically. This Award is thoroughly deserved for his contribution to British engineering and motorsport.”

Head and Williams first hooked up in 1977 to found Williams Grand Prix Engineering after Frank’s orginal team had been absorbed by Walter Wolf.