Claire Williams said selling the family’s Formula One team is a grief that has been difficult to come to terms with, admitting it has felt like someone cut her heart out and never gave it back.
Claire, 47, has been an F1 outsider for coming up to three years following the sale of the team founded by her father Sir Frank Williams to American investment firm Dorilton Capital for £136million.
She resigned as de facto boss at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, while Frank – who extraordinarily took his motor racing team from an empty carpet warehouse to the summit of the sport – died a year later.
“When I left in Monza it felt like someone cut my heart out and it has never been returned,” said Claire, in an interview with the PA news agency ahead of Williams’ 800th race at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
“You just have to find something to put in its place. But it was very difficult then and three years on, it is still really hard.
“It is just one of those griefs that is really difficult to get over, or to come to terms with. Now we have lost Dad, it sometimes feels as though it was just a dream. Did that period in our lives really happen?”
Sir Frank oversaw 114 victories, 16 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships and became the longest-serving team boss in the sport’s history.
His story is made all the more remarkable by a horrific car crash which left him with injuries so devastating doctors considered turning off his life-support machine.
Until his death in 2021, he was recognised as the world’s oldest surviving tetraplegic.
Frank, who lived at the team headquarters in Grove, Oxfordshire, handed over the managerial baton to daughter Claire in 2013.
She guided the team to a brilliant third in the constructors’ championship, behind the financial muscle of Mercedes and Ferrari over the following two years, before a lack of major investment contributed to Williams’ decline. A decade has passed since a Williams driver last won a race.
“There was so much that went on in those last few years, which to this day I will never be able to talk about,” continues Claire.
“But I saw the team through three very difficult seasons and I was able to hand over something that was still living and still breathing to someone with deeper pockets than us. We kept everyone in jobs, we didn’t go into administration and I am very proud of that.
“When I have challenging circumstances I bury my head in jobs and when we sold Williams, my next concern was, where did Dad go?
“As much as Dorilton were kind enough to say he could always live at the factory, I needed him close to me. And coincidentally the house next door to us came up for sale, so we moved Dad in.
“I managed his care team. I made sure he was happy and comfortable in his new home and we went off and did some nice stuff together. He would pick up my little one, Nate, from nursery.
“But then he got sicker, greater care was required to look after him and he passed away. But for the next six months, we organised this wonderful memorial service. We then decided to move house, renovating our old house in Ascot and our new home in South Downs.
“So, I am the master of distraction. Life carries on. And as much as I miss Williams, and I miss Formula One dreadfully, there is a whole other world out there. You have to go and find happy elsewhere. That is what I have done.”
However, Claire discovered her zen state is disrupted by watching the sport she loves.
She will not tune in on Sunday to see Alex Albon and rookie Logan Sargeant scramble for a point or two under the tutelage of new team principal James Vowles – an appointment Claire said her father would have approved of – in Williams’ landmark race.
“I turned on the TV to see Alex had scored a point in Australia earlier this year,” she continued with a broad smile.
“Ted’s Notebook was on and Ted [Kravitz] grabbed James and said, ‘mate, congratulations, you are only Williams’ third team principal and you have got a point. How does it feel?’
“And I was like, third team principal? That is Frank, that is Jost [Capito] and that is James, what about me? Ted has just cancelled me on national television!
“I may not have been called team principal but I operated that way and I have literally just been erased. I turned it straight off and vowed never to watch again.
“But I tried watching the last race at Silverstone. I thought to myself, ‘Right, I am going to do this. Come on’. But I watched the formation lap and that was that. I lasted five minutes.
“I don’t know what it is, but if you talk to any person who has worked, lived and breathed Formula One – no matter if that is for 20 years or 20 minutes – it does something to you. It absorbs you, and when you leave, particularly involuntary like I did, it is very difficult to watch it and not feel that loss.”
Claire dovetails speaking engagements and “top-secret television projects” with her role as brand ambassador for Williams Advanced Engineering.
Earlier this year, she launched the Frank Williams Academy in her father’s honour. The project aims to raise £1.5m to help educate and train those affected by spinal cord injuries. She also revealed Sky offered her the chance to return to the F1 paddock as a pundit.
“It was too soon,” said Claire. “It is better when you leave, you leave.
“Unless someone said to me, ‘Come back and be a team principal and you can have Williams back’, I don’t necessarily think there is a job I would want, but never say never.”
Rosberg backs Hamilton and Leclerc battle after surprise Ferrari switch
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc riding for Ferrari will be "great to watch", according to Nico Rosberg, who expects a "tough battle" between two Formula One drivers on a similar level.
Mercedes and Hamilton will part ways after 12 seasons together as the seven-time world champion prepares to join Ferrari.
Leclerc got the nod ahead of current team-mate Carlos Sainz to remain with the Italian team, with the Ferrari driver ready to join forces with Hamilton in 2025.
"We're all looking forward to that dynamic," Rosberg, who partnered Hamilton at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016, told Sky Sports.
"Charles doesn't seem like someone who goes into conflict too much with his team-mate, so that will make it easier, maybe it won't be too extremely spicy."
Hamilton has failed to finish ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in any of his first five 2024 grand prixs.
Yet Rosberg has no doubt over his quality, nor his soon-to-be partner Leclerc, who he ranks just behind Max Verstappen.
"Charles is probably the second-best qualifier out there after Max Verstappen, one could possibly say at the moment, so it will be a tough battle for both," Rosberg added.
"I think the level could be pretty similar, so it will be great to watch."
Ferrari's decision to move on from Sainz may come as somewhat of a surprise, given the team have featured on the podium at four of the five races this season.
Whereas Hamilton's switch comes after Mercedes failed to engineer a car capable of competing with the likes of Red Bull, though choosing Ferrari caught the eye.
"It came as a huge surprise," Rosberg said. "No one expected it. But If you look at the grand scheme of things, then why not?
"It's towards the end of his career. They are two legendary teams and I know Lewis has always been a big fan of Ferrari, so why not make that switch and have a different experience of driving in red once?
"At the moment, it seems in performance terms to be the right decision for him, which maybe he's made an amazing move like he did 12 years ago by moving from McLaren for Mercedes.
"McLaren was winning races and Mercedes was nowhere, and the moment he moved, McLaren went backwards and Mercedes started winning races. Maybe he can get the same timing done again."
Christian Horner denies Formula One is ‘boring’ with Max Verstappen’s dominance
Christian Horner has knocked back criticism that Max Verstappen’s stranglehold on Formula One is “boring” by describing his star driver’s unstoppable form as a “golden moment”.
Verstappen claimed his fourth win from the five rounds so far this season with a commanding drive at Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix to establish a 25-point championship lead.
The Dutch driver has failed to triumph at only two of the last 23 races staged in the sport, and he is the overwhelming favourite to secure a fourth world crown in as many seasons.
Speaking prior to Sunday’s race, Lando Norris, who finished runner-up to Verstappen in Shanghai, admitted that seeing the “same driver win without a fight is boring”, and a “turn-off” for fans.
But addressing claims that Verstappen’s dominance is damaging the sport, Red Bull team principal Horner said: “You have to appreciate success. Max is a special talent and this is a golden moment for him.
“As we have seen with every single driver in the past, it doesn’t last forever. It is about enjoying the moment and being in the moment and there are no guarantees we can give him a car like this for the next five years.
“Max is just a metronome. The pace he showed last year, he has continued that through.
“And since the last Chinese Grand Prix in 2019, he has won 50 per cent of all the races. He has won 21 out of the last 23 races. He is in fantastic form, at one with the car and the team and enjoying his racing.”
Verstappen also won the first sprint round of the season in Shanghai.
The dash to the chequered flag took place before qualifying for Sunday’s main event in a rejig this year.
Verstappen, 26, has often criticised the format, and although he agreed the new schedule is better than in previous years, he urged F1 bosses not to increase the number of sprints – which is set at six this season.
“The sprint format was more straightforward that it has been but let’s not overdo it,” said the triple world champion.
“We are already doing 24 races in a season and six of these sprint events, too. I guess it sells better and the television audience numbers increase, but it also increases the pressure on the mechanics to ensure everything is tip-top.
“So, we have to deal with it, but let’s not now think that we need 12 of these (sprints) because it will take its toll on people in the sport.”
Toto Wolff hopeful Lewis Hamilton’s morale will not plummet after bad start
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident Lewis Hamilton’s morale will not plummet despite his continued worst start to a Formula One season.
Hamilton fought back from his lowly 18th grid slot to finish ninth in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
But the British driver, in his final season with Mercedes before his blockbuster transfer to Ferrari, leaves Shanghai only ninth in the standings after failing to finish inside the top six at either of the opening five rounds.
Indeed, Sunday’s result marked the third time he has crossed the line in ninth this year. Hamilton also trails team-mate George Russell 5-0 in qualifying.
But Wolff said: “Lewis is a pro and he has behaved that way, trying to keep his morale up and the morale of the team up, even if the results have not come his way. I have no doubt this will last.”
Hamilton has now gone 50 races and 868 long days without a victory and he was exposed to yet another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.
Following his worst qualifying result in seven years, Hamilton started on the quickest, but less-durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.
“I am making no ground on this tyre,” he said after dropping from 18th to 19th.
Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine and rejoined back in 19th, 53 seconds off Max Verstappen’s leading pace.
“That was the worst tyre, man,” said the despondent 39-year-old.
Hamilton was soon back on the intercom. “I can’t even catch him (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon), man,” he said. “This car is so slow.”
Hamilton’s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time, with the virtual safety car (VSC) deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down.
And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas’ stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order.
He would be 12th at the restart, but he was still bemused by his unruly machine.
“The car is just sliding around everywhere,” he said. “It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.”
Daniel Ricciardo suffered floor damage after Lance Stroll thumped into the back of his RB, elevating Hamilton into 10th before he swatted Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg aside.
Hamilton was then up to eighth as Fernando Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 42-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back a place with seven laps remaining.
The seven-time champion took the chequered flag nearly one minute behind Verstappen.
“This is the worst season so far, as I mentioned at the last race,” said Hamilton. “It definitely wasn’t better than expected because we expected to finish there today.
“I have never had so much understeer in my life. I thought I damaged my car because there was debris on the track at one point, but it was just the way I set the car up.
“We finished second in the sprint race yesterday and, with better decisions on setup today, we would have been where George finished. We have to keep fighting.”
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