Very sad news for the legendary Williams F1 team: Courtesty of the Official F1 Website. Williams have announced that team founder Sir Frank Williams is to step down from the board of Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC at the end of this month. Williams will, however, remain as majority shareholder and continue to work full time as team principal. Williams have also confirmed that Claire Williams - daughter of Frank and a long-time member of the team - will join the board at the start of April as director of marketing and communications, following the decision of the postâs current holder, Dominic Reilly, to leave the company. âI turn 70 in April and I have decided to signal the next stage in the gradual but inevitable process of handing over the reins to the next generation by stepping down from the board at the end of this month,â said Frank Williams. âI shall continue to attend all board meetings as observer. Nonetheless, I shall be looking to Claire to represent the Williams family on the board and I know that she will work tirelessly alongside [Chairman] Adam [Parr] to make the group and the team just as successful as we can be.â Commenting on Claire Williamsâ promotion, Parr said: âClaire has worked at Williams for 10 years, taking on increasingly demanding positions and demonstrating throughout all of the qualities needed in this critical role. âClaire will be accountable for acquiring new partners for the Williams F1 Team as well as continuing to be responsible for ensuring effective communication about the team and the group as a whole. The board concluded that Claireâs appointment would further strengthen its quality, diversity and effectiveness.â Williams are about to embark on their 38th year of Formula One competition following a difficult 2011 season which saw them finish ninth in the constructorsâ championship. As we see the legends slowly leave the F1 stage, the new generation are taking over the scene... are we slowly losing the true grit of F1? or is the gradual change for the better?
I for one, will not mourn for Sir Frank gradually backing out in order to hand over the reins. He made some unpopular decisions during the 1990s which I believe precipitated their reversal on the grid. Patrick Head almost split with his partner over the highly controversial decision to replace Damon Hill; and many others, disillusioned over the decision, also left the team at the same time. It was a bad move and Williams lost a lot of respect over it. Since then, he has continued to make contentious decisions and the team have continued sliding almost to the tail-end of the grid. When he finally cuts away altogether, others may be able to salvage some of his legacy…
I don't quite agree with Cosi, but agree with the principle that people who are well past their prime and have made their money should bow out. That applies to all roles in all sports.
Was it Frank that dissed Mansell's achievements in Indy car? If so, Kinda funny how he went on to put Villeneuve, Zinardi and Montoya in his cars. Personally... I've always had a lot or respect for Frank and the way that he does it his way and takes no prisoners. F1 Just wont be the same without both him and Patrick Head. But you're right Cosi. He made some absolute howlers when it came to driver choices in the last 20 years.
How about the idiotic decision to fall out with Adrian Newey? He could have become an all-time great with double the legacy, but Sir Frank Williams began to believe his own legend before he became one. It was a great shame he let his ego get in the way of his potential… He always tried to prove that his cars were better than his drivers. In a sense, he became like a driver who thought he could win in any car. Oh dear… With so many egotistical decisions, he lost the respect of a great many very important people… Bye bye Frank; you know most of us think it's overdue…
When you put it like that... It's quite hard to argue against. I think I find it sad that a character like Frank is vanishing from the sport. I know it's been coming for a while and he's been taking more of a back seat for quite some time but I still find it sad in some ways. It's also sad that a team like Williams could become another Brabham or Tyrell and just fall by the wayside. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I feel it's important that names like that should remain prominent in the sport. As I say... I really can't argue against your points. They're quite valid other that the departure being overdue.
I, for one, will be glad I never have to listen to his voice agai, it really put's my nerves on edge listening to him talk, his throat needs oiling. As for his decisions, well the car was the star, simple as, Neither Mansell, Prost, Hill or Villeneuve would've won in a different car in the years they won it, but he did lose quite a bit of public goodwill over Mansell & Hill, and losing goodwill isn't something sponsors like that much. P.S. Nice to see a bit of Billy Goat Gruff action.
I can understand this sense of sadness. As Eternal has suggested, we are looking at the end of an era. But I offer you a look into my conundrum*… There is a sense of loss, almost as instinctive as grieving a death. The passing of time - by which we mark our own mortality - becomes punctuated with a definite moment; a bit like closing the door of one's favourite Skyline for the last time (which I may soon experience but cannot bear to face); or reading a book when one realises turning the next page will terminate one's reading of it. So, was it a good book? Hmm… Look, can I tell you it's still a damned good car? - - - o0o - - - - Alternatively, here's my final take on it. But be warned: as Sir Frank knows only too well, realities (as well as parenthesised words) can be as cruel as analogies… Like a huge tree falling in a forest (or even an old withered one so dense it starves shoots with its strangling shade); when eras take their final leave, they also give leave to a space full of potential for much needed, ultimately grateful fresh-green. Whereas turning the page may be a final act of a fallen leaf, it may also come first for a leaf to be. - - - o0o - - - *A riddle of ease (to appease), or rid of disease? P.S. The book became musty and dusty but the Skyline is neither green nor rusty…
Oh god, i've just realised,the hopelessly out of his depth Adam Parr gets more of a say now. Come back Sir Frank, we miss you!!
I, and I'm sure many others will miss his presence in F1 but his time has passed. Its a shame to see him go but I think its improves Williams hopes of a move forwards.
Having lost Honda engines after 1987 thanks to the japense prehudice against disabled people, he did well to persuade Renault to come back into F1 in 1989 so soon after it left and rebuild his team, but then as Cosi as alluded to, the decision to sack Damon Hill was one of the biggest mistakes he has made. Okay, so people will argue about how good Hill was, but he was the poor sod who spent years pounding round deserted test tracks getting the 91/92/93 Williams in WDC winning form for Mansell and Prost. His skill for feedback are almost second to none, and its that aspect, despite Newey's protests, that Frank never seemed to see, or just undervalued. Since then, Williams never had a driver that could give that level of feedback, so consequently when they had BMW power, no one could make that car a consistent front runner. Newey/BMW/Williams combination could have taken the fight to Ferrari properly in those boring mid-00'. Anyway, even without Frank, and especially Patrick, Williams will either struggle to even make it back into the midfield for some time, or without the shackles of the elder statesmen, can Parr et all take the team in a different direction and get them back up through the grid?
My apologies to Bergy: I promise I've now recovered! 'SaintChris: that's a very astute observation. Nice one. And so sadly true…
I have to agree with the general theme that Frank was responsible for the decline of Williams although he was undoubtedly key in building it's success. He clearly believed more in the car than the drivers and saw the later as fodder. Possibly there was some truth in the car theory in the Williams hey day but his arrogance rather than ego let him down. That all said, for a man confined to a wheelchair in his prime, he did well. But I feel his determination and the strength he showed in his personal life flowed over just a bit too much into his professional life and marred his judgement. This is not to criticise but to observe since to have carried on as he has is a remarkable achievement.
