Claire Williams says the proposals brought to the table by Liberty Media on Friday in Bahrain will ensure the future of her Williams Martini Racing team, with the future survival of the team looking bleak without some kind of cost cap in Formula 1.
The deputy team principal of the Grove-based team joined the other nine team principals in a meeting with Chase Carey and Ross Brawn as Liberty Media outlined its plan for the future direction of Formula 1, with the intentions of making it a cheaper but more spectacular sport, with a fairer distribution of revenue across the grid.
Williams admits it was a very positive meeting in Bahrain, and if Liberty Media is able to implement what they have unveiled, it will offer a brighter future for the team.
“I was extremely positive about today’s meeting, I have to say,” Williams is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “I think we’ve all hoped for change, under our new management, and I think today they presented change.
“For a team like ours, based on what they presented, it was an extremely good day for us.
“I came back thinking, ‘Let’s crack open some champagne,’ because from our perspective if we can get these new regulations through and if Liberty or FOM do everything that they say they’re going to do that they presented this morning, then from our perspective I know that Williams’ future is safe.
“That’s not to say we were on the brink or anywhere close, but today’s sport, the way it’s structured, and with the financial disparity between teams, then the likelihood of Williams’s survival in the medium or long term is looking pretty bleak.
“Everything they presented from revenue distribution, cost caps was absolutely everything that we want to see in 2021 and beyond.”
