Frank Williams died, a legend who in the 1980s was the ‘father’ of Formula 1 with his own team | Other Sports | sports

Briton Frank Williams, founder of the famous Formula 1 team that bears his name, has died at the age of 79, the team announced this Sunday in a statement.

The team created by Frank Williams in the 1970s won 16 world titles between 1980 and 1997, nine for constructors and seven for drivers.

Sir Frank had been a quadriplegic since a car accident in March 1986 and spent the last decades of his life in a wheelchair.

It was in 1975 when the cars with his name participated for the first time in Formula 1.

The first victory came at Silverstone in 1979 and the first world title a year later with Australian Alan Jones.

The father of three children, this passionate about technology and strategy had handed over the controls of his team to his daughter Claire in 2013.

In sporting and financial difficulties, the team was sold to an American investment fund, Dorilton Capital, in 2020.

F1 president Stefano Domenicali declared that F1 lost “a giant”. “He overcame the greatest difficulties and challenges in life to win on and off the track.”

“This is very sad news,” said Jean Todt, president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). “Frank Williams left his mark on the history of F1, he was a pioneer, an exceptional personality and an exemplary man.”

Symbol of an era

They were world champions with Williams big names like Nelson Piquet (1987), Nigel Mansell (1992) and Alain Prost (1993).

With Franck Williams leaves the symbol of an era: entrepreneurs born in garages, independents who began to assemble their cars and who were able to reach the top.

In the case of Sir Franck, initially preparing the chassis of other brands and later designing his own in F1 with his private structure.

“I am unable to explain the reason for this passion, but I love racing cars; the noise, the vibrations, the smell, the danger … ”, he pointed out in 1997 in an interview with the French newspaper The team.

In 1975 he had entered the World Championship under his own name, ‘Frank Williams Racing Cars’, but the team passed under the control of his patron, Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf, in 1977.

Success story

So Williams starts again from scratch, creating with his compatriot Patrick Head, the ‘Williams Grand Prix Engineering’, in the World Championship since 1978.

The first victory came quickly, in 1979 at Silverstone and the first manufacturer and drivers’ titles in 1980.

For the memory, the Williams FW07 of that year, which wore the colors of the airline Saudia. Then Frank proved to be a visionary, convincing the oil kings before the rest that Formula 1 was a good business to invest their money.

The years 1986 and 1987 were another golden period, with a Honda as the engine and the Nelson Piquet-Nigel Mansell couple at the wheel.

Williams lived it partly in a hospital bed, after his car accident when he returned from a free practice session at the Castellet circuit.

This was followed by a prolific collaboration with Renault (1989-1997) and the May 1994 drama when Brazilian Ayrton Senna passed away in Imola at the wheel of a Williams-Renault.

With a reputation for being cold, tough and demanding to the extreme, with himself and with his employees, including pilots, he remains at the foot of the canyon until 2013, when he cedes part of the power to his daughter Claire, although at first he must be content with the position of his father’s adjunct.

Williams is now a modern, publicly traded company providing engineering technologies and services to diverse sectors, from aerospace to energy. (D)