Williams Win Out of Question Until Sport Changes

Claire Williams fears that there won’t be another Williams win in the future unless Formula 1 undergoes a few changes.

Williams’ last race winner was Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado back in 2012 at the Spanish Grand Prix. Furthermore, the Grove-based team’s last title success was in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve.

Claire welcomed the idea of a proposed $150m budget cap for the 2021 season. But she admits that the sport must undergo changes if the possibility of a Williams win are to resurface once again.

“When I started, I really thought we could win again,” Williams said. “Now I do not believe that any more. Our sport is basically broken.

“It’s naive to believe that if you just work hard, you’ll be rewarded. Except for the top three teams, nobody will win in the future.

“The financial discrepancy compared to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull is just too big. It’s impossible to keep up. And it’s sad.

“If the new Formula 1 owners actually push the $150 million budget from 2021, we could survive.”

However, after a point-less start to 2018, Williams accepts her team must work harder to improve.

“There are teams with less money than we have who are doing a better job,” she said.

This weekend, all the teams are headed for Baku, Azerbaijan. Lance Stroll has fond memories of this circuit as he scored his maiden podium there. This was despite being beaten on the line by Valtteri Bottas. Meanwhile, this is Sirotkin’s first visit to Azerbaijan as an F1 driver. The street circuit is quite unforgiving and both Williams drivers will be hoping to survive and hopefully chalk up some points on the scoreboard.

Despite the rocky start to the season, the Williams team are remaining positive and hope that their season turns around soon.