Frank Williams 1942-2021
December 1, 2021 6:26 AM Subscribe
Sir Francis Owen Garbett 'Frank' Williams, founder and long-time principal of the Williams Formula One team and (probably) the world's longest lived tetraplegic died on Sunday aged 79.
Sir Frank Williams was the last of Formula One's 'garagistas', a generation of fiercely independent team owners and managers. He was briefly a driver, but went on to start his own teams in 1969 and 1977. He lost control of the first team (Frank Williams Racing Cars), but the second team, started in an Oxfordshire carpet warehouse, became the current Williams team.
The team won its first race in 1979 and first championship in 1980. The team went on to become a dominant force from then until 1997, winning 9 constructors' championships and 7 drivers' championships. After 1997 it entered a long decline, winning a few races (the last being an upset win for Pastor Maldonado at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix) but never seriously challenging for a championship. Frank's daughter Claire Williams took over the running of the team as deputy principal in 2013 (although Frank remained as formal principal) and the family's involvement eventually ended as the team was sold in 2020 to Dorliton Capital.
Frank was an extremely driven man and in the early days, he and the team were perennialy short of cash - at one point he was conducting team business from a phone box because he hadn't paid the phone bill, and once even bounced a cheque on his wife. By 1986 the financial situation was better, but while hurrying back to the airport from a test session in southern France, the hire car he was driving crashed and rolled down a 2.4m drop into a field. Nobody else was seriously injured, but Frank suffered a spinal injury and was left with extremely limited use of his limbs. A year later he was back running the team.
Frank was married to Lady Virginia ('Ginny') Williams. She wrote an acclaimed book about her experiences of being married to Frank called A Different Kind of LIfe - this formed the bases for the 2017 biopic Williams: Formula One in the Blood (BBC iPlayer link). Motorsport writing very often focusses on the (very predominantly male) drivers, managers and technial staff, but the perspective of their families is very often missed. Ginny did a lot of the unseen work to make Frank's team actually function, and her memior represents a rare window in what it was like to support an obsessive partner in his passion. Ginny died of cancer in 2013 aged 66.
Sir Frank Williams was the last of Formula One's 'garagistas', a generation of fiercely independent team owners and managers. He was briefly a driver, but went on to start his own teams in 1969 and 1977. He lost control of the first team (Frank Williams Racing Cars), but the second team, started in an Oxfordshire carpet warehouse, became the current Williams team.
The team won its first race in 1979 and first championship in 1980. The team went on to become a dominant force from then until 1997, winning 9 constructors' championships and 7 drivers' championships. After 1997 it entered a long decline, winning a few races (the last being an upset win for Pastor Maldonado at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix) but never seriously challenging for a championship. Frank's daughter Claire Williams took over the running of the team as deputy principal in 2013 (although Frank remained as formal principal) and the family's involvement eventually ended as the team was sold in 2020 to Dorliton Capital.
Frank was an extremely driven man and in the early days, he and the team were perennialy short of cash - at one point he was conducting team business from a phone box because he hadn't paid the phone bill, and once even bounced a cheque on his wife. By 1986 the financial situation was better, but while hurrying back to the airport from a test session in southern France, the hire car he was driving crashed and rolled down a 2.4m drop into a field. Nobody else was seriously injured, but Frank suffered a spinal injury and was left with extremely limited use of his limbs. A year later he was back running the team.
Frank was married to Lady Virginia ('Ginny') Williams. She wrote an acclaimed book about her experiences of being married to Frank called A Different Kind of LIfe - this formed the bases for the 2017 biopic Williams: Formula One in the Blood (BBC iPlayer link). Motorsport writing very often focusses on the (very predominantly male) drivers, managers and technial staff, but the perspective of their families is very often missed. Ginny did a lot of the unseen work to make Frank's team actually function, and her memior represents a rare window in what it was like to support an obsessive partner in his passion. Ginny died of cancer in 2013 aged 66.
great post by the way. Here's a couple more bits I've stumbled upon:
it was the best of times by Peter Windsor
"I'm indebted to him forever" -- Damon Hill pays tribute
posted by philip-random at 7:46 AM on December 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
it was the best of times by Peter Windsor
"I'm indebted to him forever" -- Damon Hill pays tribute
posted by philip-random at 7:46 AM on December 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
.....\ō͡≡o˞̶-
Loved watching F1 (with Murray Walker commentary of course) with the Williams cars.
posted by Webbster at 8:33 AM on December 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
Loved watching F1 (with Murray Walker commentary of course) with the Williams cars.
posted by Webbster at 8:33 AM on December 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
A hero.
posted by Keith Talent at 8:35 AM on December 1, 2021
posted by Keith Talent at 8:35 AM on December 1, 2021
.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:18 PM on December 1, 2021
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:18 PM on December 1, 2021
.
posted by but no cigar at 3:18 PM on December 1, 2021
posted by but no cigar at 3:18 PM on December 1, 2021
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the 2017 biopic Williams: Formula One in the Blood (BBC iPlayer link)
also available here:
Formula 1 Williams Documentary (Belgeseli) Türkçe Altyazi ile 1080P (2017)
posted by philip-random at 7:35 AM on December 1, 2021 [2 favorites]