Williams deputy team boss Claire Williams has declared she would “go down fighting” to try and protect the company’s legacy.
The Grove-based outfit, which is joint second with McLaren in the all-time most Constructors’ titles list, finished bottom of that championship in 2018 after struggling all season with a flawed car design.
However, the bid to try and turn around Williams’ fortunes has gone much deeper with a full analysis of the team’s structure and changes being made to address weaknesses.
And while expectations remain pretty low for this upcoming season, for Claire, there is plenty of motivation to keep pushing.
“This is our family’s team, so there is a lot riding on that,” she told Racer. “One of the reasons why I took this job was to protect not just my dad’s but my mum’s legacy in this sport. It’s a legacy that we’re enormously proud of.
“I care very deeply about the reputation of this team, 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.
“I have a huge personal investment and I wouldn’t be doing anything else,” Williams continued.
“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.”
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Williams also vowed that she would see her father’s team through this difficult period and hopefully take it back to where it belongs, towards the front.
“You have to fight hard if you’re going to be successful in any sport,” Claire said. “Success is so incredibly rewarding but that success isn’t easy to come by.
“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 of very great relevance and it shouldn’t be where it is at the moment.”
On Friday, Williams confirmed the livery of their 2019 car, the FW42, will be revealed on February 11.