Claire Williams recently opened up about the financial and emotional turmoil which led to Formula 1 team sale marking an end to the family’s iconic racing operation.
The Williams name has been synonymous with motorsport for over four decades, but the team’s journey came to a heartbreaking conclusion in 2020 when it was sold to Dorilton Capital.
This transition marked not just a change in ownership but also a poignant farewell to a 40-year legacy that has shaped Formula 1 history.
In a candid interview, Claire Williams reflected on the myriad challenges that led to the Formula 1 team sale claiming that the decision was not made lightly.
“We just ran out of money, not to put too fine a point on it,” she stated.
The financial strain was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of their title sponsor, Rokit. Claire recounted how after securing a contract for sponsorship in 2019 payments that were expected for the following year never materialized.
Despite winning a court battle against Rokit for approximately £30 million, the funds were never paid, leaving a significant hole in their budget. On the other hand, the pandemic proved to be an additional hurdle as racing was halted globally, so too were the revenue streams that sustained the team.
“For the 2019 season we had a title sponsor, and then going into the latter part of ’19 talking about payments for 2020, which were contracted, [they] never materialized,” Claire Williams added.
“When you lose a title sponsor, when they’re not paying and it’s there now, we took them to court and we won. They owe us 30-odd million quid, which is half the money they actually owed us.
“They’ve had the court judgment to say that but they obviously didn’t pay and that obviously left a huge hole in our budget going into 2020.
“We were very fortunate in that we had someone that came along and plugged that gap for us so we were able to start the season.
“Unfortunately when we started the season and we arrived in Melbourne, Covid hit and we all went home again. We didn’t go racing until July that year, and when you don’t go racing you don’t get money.
“That was the final nail in our coffin, so it was a thing completely out of our hands unfortunately, as events transpired.”
The Williams family had envisioned a future where they would continue to be involved in Formula 1, potentially passing the reins to future generations. Claire had hoped to run the team for her son or nephews, but circumstances dictated otherwise.
The emotional weight of losing something so integral to her family’s identity was palpable as Claire Williams admitted that she will carry this heartbreak with her every day.
“I will live with the heartbreak of losing it every single day,” she said. “It wasn’t a decision that we made as a family to sell because we’d had enough of Formula 1 or wanted to cash out.
“We all wanted to stay in it. It was our life forever, that was the plan. I wanted to run the team for my son or my nephews.”
Williams’ departure came just before a surge in corporate interest in F1, meaning the family was unable to secure the kind of large sums of money that people currently expect from the sport.
Despite the sadness surrounding the Formula 1 team sale, Claire found solace in knowing that Dorilton Capital was committed to preserving the team’s legacy. The family had received several offers but chose Dorilton because they believed in maintaining the integrity and history of Williams Racing.
“It’s more money than most people have in a lifetime, but I don’t care about that,” she insisted. “What we were very fortunate for was that we found people that wanted to buy Williams that were the kind of people we wanted to sell it to.
“Good people, people that – I’ll get upset now – but people that would look after the team, look after their legacy and look after the people that we loved and that were our family.
“We were very lucky because 2020 was a horrible time for everybody. People were not buying businesses and they certainly weren’t buying flailing Formula 1 teams.
“We were very fortunate that these people came along and they did exactly that, and so that was the greatest outcome that we could have had.”
Williams passed on the opportunity to work with Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance had joined the team in 2017 as a race driver. Eventually, Stroll acquired Force India and turned it into an enterprise that is now Aston Martin.
“I’m quite gutted that as part of the deal I didn’t just say we want to retain five per cent, but never mind,” Claire Williams admitted. “It drives me nuts because Lawrence was with us.”
Reflecting on her family’s legacy within Formula 1, Claire acknowledged her father Frank Williams’ remarkable journey from humble beginnings to establishing one of the most respected teams in motorsport history.
Frank’s passion and dedication has left an indelible mark on both the sport and its community because he served as an inspirational figure who built an extraordinary team from nothing, highlighting his resilience through personal and professional challenges.
