Sir Frank Williams, founder of Williams Racing, died today, aged 79, after being admitted to hospital last Friday with pneumonia.
In an official statement on behalf of the family published by Williams Racing, he says: “Today we pay tribute to our much-loved and inspiring figurehead. Frank will be sorely missed. We ask that all friends and colleagues respect the Williams family's wishes for privacy at this time.”
Williams Racing, through its CEO and Team Leader, Jost Capito, also stated that “the Williams Racing team is truly saddened by the passing of our founder, Sir Frank Williams. Sir Frank is a legend and an icon of our sport. His passing marks the end of an era for our team and for Formula 1. ”
Capito also reminds us of what Sir Frank Williams has achieved: “He was unique and a true pioneer. Despite considerable adversity in his life, he led our team through 16 World Championships, making us one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport.
His values, which include integrity, teamwork and a fierce independence and determination, remain the essence of our team and are his legacy, as is the Williams family name that we proudly run with. Our thoughts are with the Williams family at this difficult time.”
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Sir Frank Williams
Born in 1942 in South Shields, Sir Frank founded his first team in 1966, the Frank Williams Racing Cars, racing in Formula 2 and Formula 3. His debut in Formula 1 would take place in 1969, having as a driver his friend Piers Courage.
Williams Grand Prix Engineering (under its full name) would only be born in 1977, after an unsuccessful partnership with De Tomaso and the acquisition of a majority stake in Frank Williams Racing Cars by Canadian tycoon Walter Wolf. After being removed from the position of team leader, Sir Frank Williams, together with a then young engineer Patrick Head, founded Williams Racing.
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It was in 1978, with the conception of the first chassis developed by Head, the FW06, that Sir Frank would achieve the first victory for Williams and from then on the team's success has not stopped growing.
The first pilot title would come in 1980, with the pilot Alan Jones, to which six more would be added, always with different pilots: Keke Rosberg (1982), Nelson Piquet (1987), Nigel Mansell (1992), Alain Prost (1993) , Damon Hill (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997).
Williams Racing's dominating presence in the sport did not fail to grow during this period, even when Sir Frank suffered a road accident that left him quadriplegic in 1986.
Sir Frank Williams would leave the team's leadership in 2012, after 43 years at the helm of his team. Her daughter, Claire Williams, would take her place at the top of Williams Racing, but following the acquisition of the team by Dorillon Capital in August 2020, both she and her father (who was still involved in the company) left their positions at the company. company with your name.