Sir Frank Williams, founder of the eponymous Formula One team and the last privateer left in the sport died on Sunday.
At its height, the Williams team was the most successful team in the sport, dominating on the track in the 1980s and 1990s, winning a total of 16 world championships – nine constructors and seven drivers’ titles – claiming 114 race victories in total.
All that was despite suffering a personal tragedy back in 1986. On his way back from a race in France, he lost control of the car he was driving and was involved in an accident that left him severely injured, and was left a tetraplegic, confined to a wheelchair.
Despite that, he continued to run the team. However, with his health beginning to fail, his daughter Claire took over much of the day-to-day running of the team from 2013, although he remained a constant presence at races as well as at the team factory in the UK.
Last September, Claire stepped down from her role as well, after the team was sold to a US investment group. Although the team still continues to bear their name, the family no longer has any direct involvement in the running of it.
The team has not won a world title since Jacques Villeneuve clinched the Driver’s Championship in 1997. The last time they won a race was in 2012, when Pastor Maldonado claimed a surprise victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.
In an era when the sport is increasingly dominated by major engine manufacturers, Williams no longer had the budget to enable his team to compete on an equal footing.
For several years, it was a familiar sight to see the two Williams cars trailing behind at the back of the field. They went several years without scoring a single Championship point. However, they have performed better this season. In George Russell, who is leaving them at the end of the season to join Mercedes, they have a potential future world Champion.
In some ways, Williams’s death is the end of an era, the last link with a past where the grid consisted of a number of privately owned teams.