Williams deputy boss Claire Williams has admitted “guilt” upon revealing a decision she made in 2015 likely caused the team’s current slide.
Back then, the British team was battling with Ferrari and Red Bull for podium places, as they capitalised on the performance of the Mercedes V6 hybrid engine.
The past two years though, Williams has sat at the back of the grid with a flawed car and this season saw delays in testing which have left the outfit even further behind.
In a bid to turn things around, several key team members have left, technical director Paddy Lowe, who only arrived in 2017, has gone on leave and team co-founder Patrick Head is returning on a short-term consultancy basis,
Williams though now concedes it was her who made the critical “mistake”.
“In order to preserve our results and even make progress, we changed something in the internal structure and it turned out to be a mistake,” she told France’s Auto Hebdo.
“It was my initiative and I admit my guilt.”
It’s unknown exactly what the change was that Williams made, but Claire does insist she and the rest of the team are aware of the current situation.
“Believe me, we are not hiding our heads in the sand. We know where we are and what you need in order to win,” she claimed. “But it’s a long process.
“We are trying to independently produce as many parts as possible, and we have 620 people working for us, which is a lot for the structure we have.
“To create the Williams of the future while preserving our culture is the task we are facing now.”
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Another area that many have pointed to is financial, with the team having to take on drivers who bring sponsorship.
This is because a subsidiary of the team, Williams Advanced Engineering, has stopped bringing in revenue.
“Our funding is almost entirely dependent on sponsors and F1 income,” the deputy boss noted.
That’s why Williams hopes the efforts of Liberty Media to implement budget caps and equalise revenue will bear fruit for 2021 and beyond because…
“I know that returning to the positions we deserve is only a matter of time. I would not be talking to you now if I wasn’t sure of that,” she concluded.