INTERVIEW: Claire Williams on turning around the family business

May 13, 2012: Pastor Maldonado is hoisted aloft by Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen on the Barcelona podium. After the Venezuelan national anthem, the British one rang out to mark the first Williams victory in over seven years.

As shocks go, it was a big one, and nobody expected it to mark the start of a title challenge. But perhaps it would prove to be one of the first shoots of recovery to get the team that has won seven drivers’ and nine constructors’ championships fighting at the front once again.

Nearly seven years on, there hasn’t been another win. The following year proved disastrous, but there was a big turnaround in 2014 and 2015. Yet consecutive third-placed finishes in the constructors’ didn’t provide the springboard Williams hoped, as fifth the next two years turned into 10th last season.

Claire Williams’ official title is deputy team principal, but she carries out so many of the duties of team principal. And over the past 12 months she’s been trying to instigate another turnaround in fortunes similar to the one seen five years ago.

“I think at the moment as we’re in a relatively stable period of regulations it takes a lot longer,” Williams tells RACER. “Our plan at the moment is very different to that which we undertook in 2013 which effected changes in 2014. Not least the engine decision that we made in 2013 certainly helped with our performance, and based on where the other manufacturers were at the time. So this is a very different transformation that we’re undergoing at the moment in order to set us on the right road to achieve what we need to achieve in the sport.

“But there are certainly lessons. I think probably the lesson that I’ve learned is that actually it’s not as easy as just changing your engine, your drivers and bringing in a title partner. There’s a lot more work that needs to be done in order to make sure that an F1 team is set up in a way that it needs to in order to operate as efficiently and effectively as it needs to.”

A long view up the grid has been familiar for Williams drivers in recent years. (Image by Andy Hone/LAT)

With that lesson in mind, Williams says it isn’t just material items that have needed attention as part of the attempts to bounce back from last year’s struggles, with the whole culture within the team being reviewed in order to try and strengthen overall.

“I think it’s a combination of everything. I think when you are where we found ourselves last year, you have to look at every element of your business and that’s exactly what we’ve done. I think that just trying to change one thing or doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome isn’t going to steer you in the direction in which you need to be going, so we have literally looked at everything.

“We have obviously changed our drivers, we’ve changed certain structures within the organization, we’ve addressed all the areas around performance that we need to, and I think that probably the one thing that we have kept stable is the engine this year. So it’s making sure that all parts of the jigsaw puzzle are fitting correctly and going from there.”

The driver line-up has had a complete overhaul and a new title partner will be announced on Monday, but a cultural change is not easy for any team boss to influence, let alone one who has so much as Williams has invested personally. Yet rather than see that as a negative pressure, she sees it as a driving force, and draws parallels with times her father Frank had to steady the ship.

“This is our family’s team, so there is a lot riding on that. One of the reasons why I took this job was to protect not just my dad’s but my mom’s legacy in this sport. It’s a legacy that we’re enormously proud of. So there’s that pressure.

“And I care very deeply about the reputation of this team, I care very deeply about the people that work for us and I want to make sure that they have a team that they can be proud of and that this team survives for many, many, many years to come in our sport.

Claire Williams and Sir Frank Williams (Image by Glenn Dunbar/LAT)

“So I have a huge personal investment, but I wouldn’t be doing anything else. I love what I do, I’m very lucky to do what I do, and I actually find the challenge probably more invigorating than if we were just happily cruising around in P4 and grabbing the occasional podium.

“For me, I very much actually almost liken my journey to that when Frank started the team. We’re on our uppers from a performance perspective and you have to fight hard if you’re going to be successful in any sport. Because success is so incredibly rewarding, that success isn’t easy to come by. Just ask Toto (Wolff), it takes an enormous amount of hard work -- luck doesn’t necessarily come into it.

“I’m prepared for that and I’ve got my sleeves rolled up and I’m going to fight with every inch of my being in order to achieve what I want Williams to achieve and I won’t give up until I do. I’ll go down fighting if I have to, but I will continue to fight for this team because I believe in it. I believe it has a place in this sport, I believe it still has a very great relevance and it shouldn’t be where it is at the moment.”

It’s clear that the Williams history is something that Claire is keen to protect, but at the same time recent changes have been made to try and make the whole business more successful in modern F1. You might expect that would lead to some extremely tough decisions as the influences of Frank and Patrick Head remain so obvious, but the deputy team principal says their combined ethos largely marries up with her own.

“I’d say there’s never any conflict in my mind because I have Williams so deeply entrenched in my every fiber! I’ve been brought up around it. Frank was never a person to leave his work at the office. It came home with him and we were all very much a part and had an insight into what was going on. So it’s kind of part of who I am, and I know therefore how Dad had operated and I suppose I follow his way very much because it’s what I’ve learned over the years.

“But I also have my way, and I also want to put my stamp on Williams. So a lot of the work we’re doing around cultural transformation, business transformation, I’m leading and I’m driving that through the business so that I put my stamp on it. But I would never want to lose Frank and Patrick’s legacy either. So it’s important for me to protect the past but also to carve out and protect the future.”

Claire Williams and Mike O'Driscoll (Image by Glenn Dunbar/LAT)

It’s a fine line to tread, made all the more difficult by the personal ties. But the thought of failure provides an additional edge that Williams says fuels her desire to lead the recovery effort.

“I’m not in I suppose Christian (Horner)’s shoes or Toto’s shoes. Every team principal has got an enormous amount of pressure on their shoulders -- they’ve got pressure from shareholders. Effectively, I’m the family representative, it’s my shareholding. So my decision, I don’t have to worry, it’s only going to cost my family’s future, it’s not going to cost someone else’s family’s future.

“So I think they’re really different pressures. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the person that brings Williams down to its knees, that would be horrific, and I suppose that certainly spurs me on to fight even harder.”