PRE-SEASON INTERVIEW WITH FRANK WILLIAMS
The team will mark several landmarks this season.
Did you foresee such success when you first started your career?
It never crossed my mind so no, not at all. Back then, my
mind concentrated on yesterday’s and today’s problems.
This year also sees you become the longest serving
constructor in Formula One and celebrate 600 GP entries. What
has motivated you over the past 38 years and what keeps motivating
you?
It’s very easy to be hooked by Formula One. Once you’re
in, you can’t get out. It’s almost an addiction,
but an enjoyable one.
You had no connections to motorsport as a child.
What propelled you into the sport do you think?
When I was very young, motor cars were few and far between
but I always loved them. I was just thrilled by their speed
and their specification, I was hooked from the first time
I came across one.
Formula One has changed considerably during your
tenure, what has been the most significant change, in your
opinion?
Undoubtedly safety. The advances we’ve seen over the
years are very much down to Max Mosley and the FIA.
Your relationship with Patrick Head is the most enduring
partnership in the paddock. What do you think has been the
key to its longevity?
A common sense of purpose. We also have an understanding
of what each other is good at so we very rarely tread on each
others’ toes.
Williams has an impressive employee retention record
with a number of employees having worked for you from the
start. What do you think encourages people to work at WF1
for so long?
It helps to have been around a while, obviously! We tend
to attract people who enjoy what they do and people who really
want to win races. Our atmosphere is certainly disciplined,
but has a light touch which I think helps.
The team stands as one of just two independent teams
in the pitlane. What pressures does that bring and do you
see Williams staying as a force in the paddock for another
ten years?
Making ends meet is the single largest problem that I face
with Adam our CEO but we have a very able marketing department
who always work their socks off all year round. Better results
always help, but when we have had a good year we reap the
rewards for the following few years. We haven’t been
what I would call a force for a good few years, but I hope
that we will be an honest and able competitor whilst enjoying
what we do as well as being a team that helps to give the
fans good value for money.
The team hasn’t won a Championship for ten
seasons now but is it fair to say it seems to be turning a
corner?
Ten years is a miserably long time, Patrick and I wince every
time we think about it. But life’s tough, it’s
never meant to be easy, you just have to get on with it and
work hard to get back to the top. Whether we’ve turned
a corner, we will only be able to tell once the season gets
underway.
The press are speculating that Williams could be
the leading team behind Ferrari and McLaren this year. Are
you cautiously optimistic of improving on last year’s
performance?
Personally, not in the slightest, I don’t subscribe
to what the press has said. Our competitors around us, of
which there are many, are just as competitive. Formula One
is never easy; it’s not supposed to be easy, so to think
that we’re going to sail in to third place in the first
few races is pie in the sky. If we do, it’ll be a tight
fit. Nico returns for his third season this year. How important
is he to the team? He’s fundamental. We have the highest
regards for him and we have great confidence that, given the
right equipment, he will win races.
Kazuki has been promoted from test to race driver,
how has he been doing over winter testing and what are your
expectations of him in a race seat?
We knew we were taking a bit of a gamble when we signed him,
but we’ve been pleasantly surprised by his testing pace.
It’s really only a question I’ll be able to answer
properly after the first few races of the season.
There’s a new face in team this year in the
form of Nico Hulkenberg. What prompted you to take him on
as a test driver?
We like his background. The fact he’s a Willi Weber
driver gives us confidence in our choice. He hasn’t
done much running to date, but he does not appear to be a
waste of time.
And lastly, what are your predictions for the season
ahead?
I think the first four places are most likely to be occupied
by the same people as last year, sadly. But I do think it
will be a brilliant racing season.
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