F1 News
Claire Williams still affected by losing family team: 'It was our life'
In August 2020, Dorilton Capital completed the purchase of Williams as the team struggled with financial problems. For Claire Williams, losing the family company still hurts, and talked about the final nail in their coffin as the 2020 season could not get underway in time because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Claire Williams, the daughter of Sir Frank Williams took over his father's position in the team in March 2012, and was deputy team principal until 2020. Even as she was offered to stay with the team after the team were sold, Williams decided to step down.
Williams thinks about selling the team every day
Appearing in the Business of Sport podcast, the Briton said selling the company is still painful for her. "There's not one day where I have the emotion I'm pleased we sold Williams. I will live with the heartbreak of losing it every single day. We didn't decide to sell because we had had enough of F1 or we wanted to cash out. We wanted to stay in it. It was our life. I wanted to run the team for my son or our nephews," she began.
"We took them to court and we won. They owe us £30 million. They didn't pay, that left a huge whole in 2020. We were fortunate we had someone come along to plug that gap. We arrived in Melbourne and COVID hit. We didn't go racing until July. When you don't go racing, you don't get money," Williams concluded why they had to sell the team to Dorilton Capital after an already difficult period for them on track. The last time a Williams driver could step on the podium in Formula One was George Russell back in 2021, after the Belgian GP was shortened because of the poor weather conditions.
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