Williams up for sale as £13m loss puts team’s survival in jeopardy
The Williams name threatens to disappear from Formula One after the sport’s most proudly independent team bowed to financial pressure by putting their business up for sale. It signals a dramatic change of course for a team who have been under family control since Sir Frank Williams founded them in 1977, but in posting a £13 million annual loss, they acknowledged that their survival was under threat.
A combination of on-track struggles and the economic chaos wrought by Covid-19 has meant that the team are no longer sustainable without investment. Reluctantly, the Oxfordshirebased team confirmed that they were open to negotiations on the partial or complete sale of the company, and that they had entered talks with several interested parties.
Claire Williams, the deputy team principal, offered a robust defence of her actions, claiming that the team were embarking on a “new strategic direction”. But it is one that could come at a heavy price, sacrificing a name celebrated throughout motorsport and a brand that her father built from scratch. On a conference call yesterday, she could give no assurance that the Williams marque, one that has amassed nine constructors’ titles and 114 race victories, would not be lost to F1 for good, saying only that it was “too early to hypothesise what the team could and couldn’t be called”.
After the zenith of their Nineties dominance, when Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill were the toast of British motor racing, Williams have become a husk of their former selves. In each of the past two seasons, the team have finished bottom of the combined constructors’ standings.
Last year, there was such chaos in the engineering department that their car was not even ready for pre-season testing. Paddy Lowe, the former technical director, left under a cloud, while Claire Williams has found her own leadership skills called into question.
The coronavirus pandemic, which has prevented racing this year, has aggravated the financial problems. A £13million loss compared grimly with a £12.9 million profit the previous year, while the team also confirmed the end of their title sponsorship deal with Rokit.
While the imposition of strict budget caps could help Williams from 2021, the prospect of losing the team’s identity will cut deep.
Sir Frank, the creator, had always insisted on retaining control, but his daughter maintained that the 78-yearold, no longer involved in day-to-day operations, backed the latest decision. “Frank wants to ensure the future success of the team,” she said. “He understands and agrees this is the right time to seek the investment to achieve that.”