The Williams family has been urged to step aside from leadership roles as the search for investment continues.
Last month, the historic team confirmed it had begun the “formal sale process” which opens up the company to investment offers and potentially a takeover.
Already, it is understood Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has capitalised by assuming a five percent stake and F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn believes Williams’ future will be secured.
“The Williams situation has got to be dealt with, but there’s been some fairly serious people looking at Williams, and I think it shows that there’s a decent model behind it to make it a serious consideration,” he recently told Autosport.
“It’s a team with fantastic heritage, and obviously I do have a soft spot for them.
“The reality is that F1 is pretty brutal, and you’re measured every two weeks on the track, or every week as will be the case in the next few months.
“There’s no hiding place. Quite honestly, if you finish last, as they have for the last few years, there’s going to be a consequence and now unfortunately they’ve reached that point.
“Whoever goes in there needs to look at the fundamental reasons why they’ve not been able to perform, and whether it is just finance, or the structure they’ve got, or the approach they’ve taken. I honestly don’t know,” Brawn added.
“But it needs that understanding. It may just be financial, and with extra financial support they can be more competitive, and it needs someone to go in there and try to understand what’s going on.”
Also helping in the search for investment is former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who said it would be the “end of an era” if Williams did collapse.
But, without naming names, he put the blame for their recent problems squarely on the current leadership.
“Poor old Frank worked so hard that his team could be there and it is not a good thing that it could disappear now,” he told AFP.
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“Unfortunately, the current management does not have the same status as Frank. He could handle things.”
Former Williams driver Ralf Schumacher wasn’t afraid to call out deputy team boss Claire Williams though.
“It looks like neither Frank Williams nor his daughter were able to lead the team in a modern style,” he told Speed Week.
“There are a lot of things wrong with the management style there.
“The path should have been cleared there years ago for young management personnel. I experienced this myself and times have simply changed.”
As for who could take over at Williams, Ralf’s former teammate Juan Pablo Montoya is expecting someone along the lines of Michael Latifi or Dmitry Mazepin.
“Hopefully they survive,” he said via Motorsport.com. “Probably someone is going to put money there and end up putting their son there, as happens many times [before].”
