Williams co-founder Patrick Head has decided to end his involvement with the team in Formula 1.

Head, who formed the Grove-based marque in 1977 with Sir Frank Williams and most recently has operated as director of engineering, is to concentrate on the company’s hybrid power programme.

“I am not going to be directly part of the Williams Formula 1 programme next year, but it is not retirement,” said Head.

“I am going to be doing some work for Williams Hybrid Power, which may sound a bit dry and dull, but it is actually quite high tech and quite interesting.”

Head’s decision comes at the end of Williams’ worst season, scoring just five points and finishing ninth in the constructors’ championship.

“I certainly didn’t have an ambition to stop my involvement in Formula 1 with a season like this last one,” said Head.

“But when I look at what specifically I can do to assist Mike Coughlan (technical director), Mark Gillan (chief operations officer) and Jason Somerville (head of aerodynamics), I came to the conclusion that it isn’t really enough to justify me carrying on doing the same thing.

“It’s not interesting for me and it’s not good for the company, so I decided to have a change of focus, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, Rubens Barrichello faces an anxious few weeks following what was one of the most emotional weekends of his Formula 1 career.

His determination to remain in Formula 1, even though it is almost certain he will not be with Williams next season, lay at the heart of his decision not to say any goodbyes at the end of Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

After 19 seasons and a record-breaking 322 starts, Barrichello has made it clear he does not want to quit, but it is hard to see where he can go.

Williams are set to retain Pastor Maldonado due to the sponsorship money he brings in from Venezuelan state-owned gas company PDVSA, with Adrian Sutil switching from Force India.

The Enstone-based Renault team’s partnership is due to be Vitaly Petrov and Romain Grosjean, with Bruno Senna reverting back to reserve.

Toro Rosso, even if they opt not to retain Jaime Alguersuari and Sebast-ien Buemi, always rely on Red Bull’s young driver academy, with Jean-Eric Vergne waiting in the wings.

It means the only conceivable vacancy is at Hispania Racing where Pedro de la Rosa has been signed up, but with no announcement as yet on a second driver.