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Interview Claire Williams: "I have never had a normal family life".

16 September 2020 at 16:21
  • GPblog.com

Claire Williams does not regret leaving Formula 1. She says the 'obsession with racing' has meant that she has never had a normal family life.

In a big interview with The Telegraph she tells how father Frank Williams skipped lunch on his own wedding day to go back to the factory to continue working. He also never came to the annual holidays to Spain. "I have experienced how much Formula 1 takes away from you. I am now in the position that I can be a mum and a wife. I can also focus on my father, who is going to move to a place close to us. There's a lot of work in that."

"This sport takes a lot of energy."

"It takes a lot of energy from you, this sport," she continues. "I want to rebuild myself a bit and find out who I am outside Formula 1. I have always been Claire Williams, the daughter of Frank Williams. I would like to leave and be myself, see how that feels".

To be successful now, she says, you need hundreds and hundreds of millions. Probably there will never be a team like Williams again, purely because of the finances. That's what finally broke her up. But she will always remember the fight as fantastic. "Running this team has never been a burden to me. It has always been a huge privilege."