In a candid reflection, Claire Williams spoke about the financial difficulties that ultimately led to the sale of the Williams Formula 1 team, a heartbreaking chapter in one of motorsport’s most historic legacies.
The Williams F1 team, founded by his legendary father Sir Frank Williams, was a dominant force throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but the 21st century saw the team slowly fade from its former glory. By 2020, a combination of financial setbacks and the unexpected challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic left the team on the brink of collapse.
“We just ran out of money, without wanting to be too precise,” Claire Williams said in a revealing interview on the YouTube channel Business of Sport.
Williams entered the 2020 season with telecommunications company ROKiT as its title sponsor. But disaster struck when ROKiT pulled out of the deal, leaving a financial hole that proved too difficult to overcome. Williams took legal action and won the case, but ROKiT still owes the team more than £30 million, an amount that would have helped keep the team afloat.
“When you lose a title sponsor and they’re not paying you, that’s a huge blow. We took them to court and won, but that didn’t stop the financial hole from growing,” Williams recalled.
Although they managed to start the season after securing temporary financial support, the COVID pandemic delayed the racing schedule, further deepening the team’s financial problems.
“We didn’t start competing until July, and when you don’t compete, you don’t get any money. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back,” Williams explained, detailing how the lockdowns and delayed start of the season exacerbated an already dire situation.
Ultimately, in August 2020, the Williams family sold the team to American investment firm Dorilton Capital, marking the end of their direct involvement in Formula 1 after more than four decades. Claire Williams described the decision to sell as a matter of pure necessity, not desire.
“I will live with the pain of losing him every day. It was not a decision we made because we wanted to get out of Formula 1. We wanted to stay—it was our life,” he said, adding that he had hoped to pass the team on to future generations.
Although she expressed gratitude that Dorilton has maintained the team’s legacy and treated its employees with respect, Williams admitted that she regrets not maintaining a small stake in the team, lamenting: “I’m pretty disappointed that we didn’t say, ‘We’ll keep the five-percent. hundred.'”
Despite the painful decision, Claire Williams remains proud of the team’s legacy and optimistic about its future, even if it is now in different hands. “We were fortunate to find the right people who would care about the team, protect its legacy and take care of the people who were our family.”
