Former Williams Team Boss Makes Startling Revelation - 'Had To Sell Race Seats'

Saajan Jogia | Sep 19, 2024

Oct 20, 2023; Austin, Texas, USA; Logan Sargeant of Williams Racing during qualifying for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Logan is the lone United States driver currently in F1. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-Imagn Images / Erich Schlegel-Imagn Images

Claire Williams, former deputy team principal of Williams, made a startling revelation about a difficult time when the team faced financial struggles in paying its drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. While the team ultimately managed to pay them before their departure, Claire revealed that she had to sell the Formula 1 seats in her team to secure the necessary funds.

While Williams is currently experiencing a period of growth under team principal James Vowles, who is reshaping the team's strategy and infrastructure with a long-term vision to restore it as a race-winning team, the situation a decade ago was drastically different.

Williams holds the reputation for being one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history, boasting an impressive nine Constructors' Championship titles since 1980, with only Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull winning more races.

In 2014, under Claire's leadership, the team capitalized on the new rules and the strength of the powerful Mercedes engine. This enabled it to secure multiple podiums and finish third in the Constructors' Championship, amassing 320 points.

During the period leading to 2015 and 2016, Bottas and Massa piloted Williams' title contenders and delivered strong performances. However, that success soon faded, followed by Bottas' exit to Mercedes in 2017. Massa also announced his retirement, pushing Claire to sign Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll as their replacements. Explaining the scenario, and how she signed the replacement drivers, the former team boss of Williams revealed on the Business of Sport podcast:

"In my earlier time, I had budget to pay drivers. I had Massa and Bottas, and the expectation was you would pay them. In my latter time, we weren't really paying our drivers and that doesn't feel good. You can pay them small amounts because that's the right thing to do to give them some money but it was really difficult.

"Quite a few teams up and down the grid weren't paying their drivers a huge amount in 17, 18, 19 period of Formula One. I mean less than a million, like way less, like 100, 150k. And that was cobbled together because one of the assets as well that you have to sell in Formula One when things aren't going so well is a race seat. And unfortunately, that's what I ended up having to do. I had to sell race seats. Bring in a pay driver."

Unfortunately for Williams, the team’s fortunes declined sharply after 2017, sinking to the bottom of the Constructors' Championship. Between 2019 and 2020, they scored only a single point. In August 2020, the team was acquired by investment firm Dorilton Capital, and shortly after, Claire announced her departure from the iconic team.