LONDON: Frank Williams, the founder and former team principal of the once-dominant Williams Racing Formula One team, died aged 79 yesterday, the team announced.
“After being admitted into hospital on Friday, Sir Frank, passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by his family,” Williams Racing said in a statement.
Williams and his daughter Claire, a former deputy team principal, no longer have any involvement with the British-based F1 team after it was sold to US-based Dorilton Capital last year.
Williams had been in a wheelchair since he was paralysed in a car crash in France in 1986. He was admitted to hospital in 2016 with pneumonia and again in December last year.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the sport had lost a “much loved and respected member” of the F1 family.
“He was a true giant of our sport that overcame the most difficult of challenges in life and battled every day to win on and off the track,” Domenicali said in a statement.
Under Williams’ leadership, the team won nine constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles, most recently with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
- The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) paid tribute to Williams and his contributions to the growth of the highest tier of competitive motorsport.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Sir Frank Williams,” BIC marketing and communications head Laurence Jones told the GDN.
“He was an icon of the sport, with a level of personal determination and spirit which delivered phenomenal achievements on and off the track.
“He dedicated his life to motor racing and his work has inspired generations across the world to follow our great sport, which he helped shape into what it is today.
“Whilst he will be missed by all of us, his immeasurable legacy will live on. We join the rest of the motorsport world in offering our sincerest condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.”
&uuid=(email))