Williams confirms new board, team boss to follow next week

Williams has confirmed the make-up of its new board following the purchase of the team by Dorilton Capital, but is unlikely to announce who will replace Claire Williams until next week.

US-based investment firm Dorilton Capital purchased Williams Grand Prix Engineering last month, taking full control of the Formula 1 team. While Dorilton states its approach is to work with existing senior management at companies it invests in, the Williams family is ending its involvement following the sale, with Sir Frank and Claire departing as team principal and deputy team principal respectively.

Following those announcements, it has now been confirmed that the new board is made up of two existing Dorilton executives -- chairman Matthew Savage and CEO Darren Fultz -- but also includes former British racing driver James Matthews.

While Savage and Fultz have perviously worked at Rothschild, Matthews is the CEO of Eden Rock Group, a London-based investment advisory firm. The 45-year-old Briton won the British Formula Renault championship in 1994 for Manor Motorsport, the same team that later took Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton to that title, before moving up to British Formula 3 and competing against Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Southern Race Series in 1998.

Matthews also has a link to British royalty, as his wife Pippa is the sister of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

While the composition of the board of directors has been confirmed, Williams says Claire Williams will remain in charge of the team at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix before stepping down, with the team then making clear who is taking over the role of team principal -- at the very least on an interim basis -- before the next race in Mugello one week later.