The Williams Family is No More
Last year, F1 fans woke up to the shocking, but slightly unsurprising, news that the Williams F1 team was being sold to Dorliton Capital. This also marked the first time since the inception of the team where a member of the Williams family wasn’t on the board.
After major struggles however, and the reduction of cash flow, this seemed like one of the best possible options to get Williams back on its feet. Now, Dorliton Capital, an American investment firm, has boosted the finances of the team, and appointed a new technical director. This is in the hopes to start to get Williams back to the front of the grid when the new regulations come into force in 2022.
Francois-Xavier Demaison, who has experience from WRC with Volkswagen, joined earlier this year. This was the first time the team had a technical director since 2019, after Paddy Lowe exited the team.
“…incredibly positive news for Williams in the years to come…”
“I really believe we’ve got a firm boss at the helm who will be able to structure a proper technical team around us to help improve ultimately the performance of the car,” Russel commented on the appointment, being quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Obviously, we’ve not had a technical director in my whole reign at Williams, which is crazy if you think about it.
“The focus was just keeping the team in Formula 1, which was obviously actually a great thing to do, but we can now get back to fully focusing on the performance. It’s really exciting for everyone at Williams with Jost at the helm.”
This year Williams’ luck may be slowly turning, with Russell getting into Q2 in the season-opener in Bahrain. Their car is also sensitive to winds, which may mean Russell may have more pace in future races.
“The priority […] was keeping the team afloat”
“Formula 1 is one massive jigsaw puzzle. You’ve got to put those pieces together, of which a technical director is the one orchestrating that.
Williams’ now hopes that they can focus on the 2022 season, where new regulations will likely even-out the playing field even more.
“It’s been very difficult, and a lot of people had to do jobs that they probably weren’t necessarily signed up for, because there wasn’t anybody necessarily leading them. Now we’ve got a CEO, now we’ve got a technical director. These guys can now get back to focusing on their main objective.”
Cover Photo by Alberto González Rovira from Pixabay
Your Take – Can Williams Get Serious Again?
Williams used to be a symbol of hope in F1, a symbol of strength. Could it become that once again? We always want to see your opinion on the topics we write about! Either use the form below to comment, or take a look at our contact page!
