Sir Frank Williams, the founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, dies at the age of 79

Sir Frank Williams, founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, has died at the age of 79.

The team won the F1 drivers’ title seven times and the constructors’ championship on nine occasions under Williams’ stewardship.

A statement from Williams Racing read: ‘It is with great sadness that on behalf of the Williams family, the team can confirm the death of Sir Frank Williams CBE, founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, at the age of 79.

‘After being admitted into hospital on Friday, Sir Frank passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by his family.’ 

Williams had been in a wheelchair since he was paralysed in a horrific car crash in France in 1986. He was admitted to hospital in 2016 with pneumonia and again in December last year. 

Sir Frank Williams, founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, has died at 79

The team won the F1 drivers’ title seven times and the constructors’ championship on nine occasions under Williams’ stewardship

The team statement continued: ‘Today we pay tribute to our much-loved and inspirational figurehead. Frank will be sorely missed.

‘We request that all friends and colleagues respect the Williams family’s wishes for privacy at this time. 

‘For those wishing to pay tribute, we ask that donations are made in place of gifts to the Spinal Injuries Association, alternatively we would welcome flowers to be placed at the entrance of the team’s headquarters in Grove, Oxfordshire.

‘Details of the memorial service will follow in due course.’

Reflecting on Williams’ death, F1’s former supremo Bernie Ecclestone said: ‘It is the end of an era.

‘He was one of the old-timers who went back an awful long way, and one wonders that if people like Frank hadn’t been around in the early days whether Formula One would still be surviving today. He was one of the people that built Formula One.

‘Nobody lived as long as him in his condition (as a tetraplegic). But Frank never complained. He never whined and grizzled. He got on with things the best he could. Frank was a fighter.’ 

Williams took his motor racing team from an empty carpet warehouse to the summit of Formula One, overseeing 114 victories, a combined 16 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships, while becoming the longest-serving team boss in the sport’s history.

Williams’ story is made all the more extraordinary by the horrific car crash he suffered in France in 1986.

It left him with injuries so devastating doctors considered turning off his life-support machine but his wife Virginia, who died in 2013, ordered that her husband be kept alive. 

Lady Virginia Williams, who died in 2013, helped her husband recover after his car accident

Williams, pictured speaking with French driver Alain Prost, had a horrific car crash in 1986

Williams and Michael Schumacher at the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos in Sao Paulo

Following a test at the Paul Ricard circuit in March 1986, Williams set off on a 98-mile dash to Nice Airport in a rented Ford Sierra. Travelling through the windy roads at speed, Williams lost control and the car ended up on its roof following a 2.5-metre drop into a field. 

Williams’ passenger, the team’s marketing manager Peter Windsor, escaped with minor injuries. But Williams suffered a spinal fracture which would leave him in the wheelchair for the rest of his life.

‘I was late for a plane which I didn’t need to be late for because I got the French time mixed up with the English time,’ explained Williams several years later.

‘The roads were very bumpy, the hire car was not the world’s best, and suddenly I was off the road upside down and with a broken neck.

‘It was very unfair on my family, particularly my wife, because of how my circumstances changed. 

‘In hindsight, it was a careless and a selfish thing to have done. Life went on, and I was able to continue, but it has been a handicap in the true sense of the word.’ 

He would remain in his role as Williams team principal for a further 34 years before F1’s greatest family team was sold to an American investment group in 2020 for £136million.

Williams driver George Russell paid his own tribute on Twitter.

He wrote: ‘Today, we say goodbye to the man who defined our team. Sir Frank was such a genuinely wonderful human being and I’ll always remember the laughs we shared. 

‘He was more than a boss, he was a mentor and a friend to everybody who joined the Williams Racing family and so many others.’ 

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.

‘His incredible achievements and personality will be with etched on our sport forever. My thoughts are with all the Williams family and their friends at this sad time.’  

Williams was charged with manslaughter following the death of Ayrton Senna but he was acquitted several years later

Williams ceased to have any involvement with the team following its sale in for £136m in 2020

The Williams team enjoyed their first F1 race win at the 1979 British Grand Prix at Silverstone with Clay Regazzoni at the wheel.

In 1980, Australian Alan Jones steered the team to the drivers’ and constructors’ titles for the first time.

In 1994, Williams was charged with manslaughter following the death of driver Ayrton Senna in a crash at Imola but was acquitted several years later.

Williams ceased to have any involvement with the team following its sale in 2020. His daughter Claire quit her post as deputy team principal later the same year.

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