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Recently speaking about how it was “deeply frustrating and upsetting” to lose money in the Williams family’s final years at the helm, Simon Roberts says he only has “respect” for what Claire Williams did for the team.
Williams sold his family Formula 1 team to US investment firm Dorilton Capital in August last year, with Claire Williams and her father Frank stepping down a month later.
It was a tough decision but one one Williams, the team’s deputy manager, felt had to be made for the team to survive.
“I was fed up with the team and all the people who made it up, having to struggle to not be able to do their job properly because we didn’t have the money to allow them to do it,” said she recently told New York Times.
“For many years I have always found this very frustrating and upsetting.”
After stepping down from their respective roles, Roberts was appointed interim team manager before being confirmed on a permanent basis.
The former McLaren man says he has nothing but respect for Williams and what she’s been through in recent years to keep the team afloat.
“We accept that things have to evolve, but there will always be a place here for Claire to come back to see us,” he told Autosport.
“And I hope when we get back to Europe next year, she can. But she’s had a really tough time.
“Keeping this together for as long as she’s done and keeping her spirits up like she’s been, it’s amazing. We really respect everything she’s done.
“But, we’re still Williams. And that’s really important to us.
“A lot [of that is] just trying to be open, trying to be as diverse as possible, employing people from all walks of life and nationalities, ethnicities – that’s really very important to us.
“And when we talk about it again, in the various committees that we have on this stuff, we always refer to what it means because of Frank and because of Claire. So yes, they are still in our hearts.
Get your hands on the official Williams collection via the Formula 1 store
Williams spoke of Dorilton’s willingness to see Williams return to the sharp end of the grid.
“I could feel a real passion for doing this, very similar to our family’s passion,” she added.
This is not the only aspect Dorilton shares with the Williams family, however, with Robert saying the team is determined to keep that sense of ‘family’.
“We developed an investment plan focused on ‘what should we do, what can we do and what should we do to improve team performance? “, Did he declare.
“He’s 100% focused on adding performance. This involves making sure it’s a great place to work.
“Since we [and] Dorilton doesn’t want to change that great feeling that exists at Williams – that kind of family spirit and togetherness – we’re investing.
“We will invest in some of the plant’s facilities. It’s just simple stuff, but stuff that makes people work better at it.
“We fix a lot of things – literally from roof leaks to wind tunnel maintenance that we haven’t been able to do in a while and stuff like that.
“It’s a pretty big program that is now in place with people back to the factory – both in the factory facilities and in the IT department – all working very hard.
Williams failed to score a single point in the 2020 Championship, ending the season at the bottom of the log.
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