Colossus who ruled F1 from his wheelchair
Force of nature swept his Williams team to titles galore
SIR Frank Williams, the Formula One giant who died yesterday at the logic-defying age of 79, was one of sport’s great survivors. From a swashbuckling, lean, fit young man who swept his great love, wife Virginia, off her feet, he later became the wheelchair-bound figure whose distinctive appearance won him instant recognition even among those with only a passing interest in the grand prix-racing milieu that entranced him to the end.
At times he was penniless, but he ended up selling his team to the American private equity firm Dorilton Capital last year for £136million. In truth, he had lost a fraction of his mental agility by then but he had the last laugh over the creditors.
Bernie Ecclestone, the long-time ruler of F1 and an old friend, said: ‘I wonder if people like Frank had not been around in the early days whether Formula One would have survived today. He was one of the people that built the entire thing.
‘We knew this day would happen. But Frank never complained. He never whined or grizzled. He got on with things the best he could. He was a fighter. Frank was just Frank. He gelled with everyone, and everyone liked him.’
Damon Hill, who won the 1996 world championship with Williams, said: ‘Frank was just remarkable in every respect with his dedication to the team. His record will stand for a very long time.
‘The only person I could compare him to is Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari. He loved F1 and he loved racing. Anyone who runs a team would like to aspire to his achievements and to his record. He was a man of few words. He could speak many languages but he didn’t engage in idle gossip. He’s a huge part of the history of the sport.’
In a statement yesterday, the Williams team said: ‘It is with great sadness that on behalf of the Williams family, the team can confirm the death of Sir Frank Williams CBE, founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, at the age of 79.
‘After being admitted into hospital on Friday, Sir Frank passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by his family. Today we pay tribute to our much-loved and inspirational figurehead. Frank will be sorely missed.’
Believed to have been the world’s oldest quadriplegic, Francis Owen Garbett Williams led his eponymous team to nine constructors’ and seven drivers’ titles during their 1980s and 1990s heyday, either side of a terrible road accident.
That occurred in 1986 while he was driving back from the Paul Ricard Circuit in the south of France, where pre-season testing had just finished. He had a case of what he called ‘get-home-itus’ (he was due to run a half-marathon on his return, a feat he could manage in about 1hr 20min) and he put his foot to the floor, as was his wont.
He was a speed junkie, a bug he caught at school, St Joseph’s College, Dumfries, when he grabbed a ride in his friend’s Jaguar XK150. Later when his mother reluctantly lent him her Morris 1000, he rolled it.
Indeed, he rolled many of the cars he raced, earning a reputation for foolhardiness: quick but without limits.
Virginia, who instantly fell head over heels for him three months before her own first marriage, called him a ‘suicide lane driver’.
So it was on the bright spring day of March 8, 1986, that he lost control of his rented Ford Sierra on a slight left-hand bend en route to Nice airport.
He dropped 8ft and hung a few inches from the ground by his seat belt, breaking his spine. His passenger, team PR Peter Windsor, was not seriously hurt. Last night Windsor said: ‘Very said to hear that Sir Frank Williams has passed away. He was a racer in every dimension.’
Williams was taken to hospital first in France and then in London. He ‘died’ three times and lost the use of his body from the shoulders down for the rest of his life.
Learning of his untreatable condition, Williams did not cry. Unblinkingly, he told his wife, whose care and love helped keep him alive: ‘Ginny, as I see it, I have had 40 fantastic years of one sort of life. Now I shall have another 40 years of a different kind of life.’
He did, as near as damn it.
Always underpinned by Ginny, until her death from cancer in 2013, he refused to let his injuries dim his verve for life — a life essentially given over to motor racing.
Williams, who was born during the Second World War, in 1942, to a teacher mother and bomber pilot father in South Shields, Tyneside, took to motor racing as a driver and mechanic before founding Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966.
In those early days he struggled for money and was known as a wheeler-dealer, a charming salesman who pulled a few tricks to make ends meet. His Eton-educated pal Piers Courage drove for him, finishing second in the Monaco and US grands prix in 1969. But the following year Courage died racing in Holland, causing a shaken Williams to hide behind a pillar after the funeral and, for once, to cry.
It was a big blow. They shared a flat and had been the greatest of buddies.
Famously, his phone line was cut owing to unpaid bills. Many years later he staged a sponsorship event on the revolving floor of BT Tower. In his speech, he thanked his hosts for having him, noting it was generous of them given that he still owed them money. Having