Claire Williams insists she won’t be leaving her position anytime soon only to be accused of driving Williams “down to the ground”.
The daughter of team founder Sir Frank has been in charge of day-to-day operations since 2013 and despite early success in the hybrid era, much of her tenure has been dominated by the Grove-based slipping down the grid.
The past two years have seen Williams sit at the back of the grid but while many faces around her have changed Claire has remained in place.
“Yeah, of course I have,” she admitted to Yahoo Sport on if she had considered her position. “Anyone that doesn’t have those moments of self-reflection and introspection should be accused of being totally arrogant.
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“The situation has been horrifically challenging and very difficult but I’m always motivated by the people we have in this team, and they’ve never shown any signs of giving up, so I wasn’t going to either.
“And what would it look like if I gave up?” Williams pondered.
“I wasn’t prepared to give up because I would only be accused of being the daughter that brought her dad’s iconic team down to the ground, and there was no way I was going to have that resting on my back for the rest of my life.”
For many though, Claire is seen as the root of Williams’ problems but she says that criticism only makes her more determined having got the backing of her father.
“He’s given me this responsibility to look after the team, and in every conversation I’ve had with him, he’s fully supportive,” she said.
“He knows how tough this business is, one that is a whole lot tougher in this day and age, with social media and people calling you an a***hole left, right and centre. That just makes me dig my heels in more.
“When people turn around and say I should give it up, that just makes me fight even harder, and I’ve always been a firm believer that if you work hard, fight hard, then one day you will get your just rewards.”