For an instant, it seemed silent. Then, amid the scraping of chairs and the rustling of clothes, 300 people in unison rose in awe and spontaneously erupted into uninvited applause.
On 11 July 1986, in the press room of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Not a particularly hospitable place, but in that moment it bears witness to some very special moments of history. Just four months after the crash, he returned from Paul Rickard's test, which left Frank paralyzed, and he was pushed into the room, receiving a blessed round of applause. When everyone praised his brave return, his throat choked and his eyes moistened.
He will do an excellent job of dealing with that life-changing car accident, transforming him from a super athlete who often beats opponents in Grand Prix to a man in a wheelchair. He would do it with indomitable strength, dignity, and a surprising lack of self-pity. He once said, "I deserve it, just like I used to drive." Speaking about writer and Williams team manager Peter Windsor, he added: "I'm glad this happened to me, not Peter. If he were the one who suffered, I would never forgive myself. ”
Sir Williams, full name: Francis Owen Garbett Williams was born in South Shields, raised by an aunt and uncle based in Jarrow, and was influenced by motorsport from an early age, and whenever news of Frank's presence came out of the paddocks of F3 in 1982 and '83, he was also the one who attracted the most attention, like a schoolboy ready to be examined by the principal.
The world hardly knew him at the time. Early in racing, he purchased a Brabham BT24 at the end of 1968 and had Robin Hurd design a 2.5-litre Cosworth DFW power unit before racing into the Tasman Series in early 1969 with his partner Pierce Pierce Courage.
Frank is a man who is happy to fulfill others. He himself failed as a racing driver, lacked good judgment and wasn't very fast. But he was a hero, he knew one, and was one of the first to recognize Jochen Rindt's talent. He liked the flamboyance and aggressiveness of the Austrians. After failing as a racing driver, he ran motorsport and competed in F3 in Europe.
Piers is at a crossroads in his career, switching to the more fluid Chris Irwin in F1 with the BRM after winning F3. Like Frank, Piers crashed cars too often. But the Tasman series is a product of two people. Piers finished third, second and fourth before Teretonga's victory, cementing his third place behind champions Chris Amon and Jochen.
Frank then made it to F1 with brabham BT26 powered by a Cosworth DFV engine, and in a fantastic season Piers was second only to Graham Hill in Monaco and repeated the feat at the American Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, where he took to the podium with his good friend and racing champion Jochen.
The following year, Gianpaolo Dallara created the de Tomaso 505/38 car for Frank, and there was a poignant moment in Monaco as they had already started to make some progress, Frank watched Piers and his young wife Sally celebrate with Jochen and Nina Rindt, thinking about how young they were and how wonderful it was, couldn't believe it was true. Then Piers was killed at the Dutch Grand Prix in June, and for a grief-stricken Frank, some things were never the same again.
He continued to be passionate about motorsport, competing in 1971 and '72 before building his own cars. First was the ill-fated Len Bailey-designed Politoys, followed by a series of Isos built with money invested by italian car companies and Marlboro. But Jacques Laffite finished second at the 1975 German Grand Prix. Buying the Hesketh 308Cs in 1976 seemed like a good idea at the time, but that season was a disaster, and at the end, sponsor Walter Wolf took control of Frank's team.
Frank had intended to continue as his assistant, but being a deputy was never his forte. Ironically, Wolves won their first game in Argentina in 1977, but Frank wasn't there to witness that victory, and he was planning to build the Williams Grand Prix project.
While Frank is a man who is happy to fulfill others, he himself needs someone to fulfill him, and that person is Patrick Head, who brings the practical engineering skills that Frank desperately needs. They built on Patrick Neve's March 761 project, but Patrick had already completed the design for the 1978 racing car FW06. The two duo signed Austrian Grand Prix champion Alan Jones, the nonsense-free Australian exactly the type of driver they liked, who was outspoken and daring.
In 1979, in Patrick's FW07, Jones pushed Williams to the front row of the launcher, which was actually a better designed version of the Ground Effect Lotus 79 concept. Ironically, it was Clay Regazzoni who won Frank's first victory at the British Silverstone Grand Prix, but the stability of the car prevented Jones from becoming a world champion that year. This was corrected in 1980 when the drivers and the team snatched up two titles, carlos Rutmann waved in the final race and Nelson Piquet led him by one point, and they also won the 1981 constructors' championship.
Williams went on to "complete" the other racers, turning them into world champions: Keke Rosberg in 1982; Nelson Piquet in 1987; Nigel Mansell in 1992; Alain Prost in 1993; Damon Hill in 1996; jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Honda experienced a decline in competitiveness when it partnered with McLaren in 1988, but a new partnership with Renault returned to winning capacity in 1989, and in the process the team gloriously competed with big names such as Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Brabham. In total, they have won 114 races and 9 Constructors' World Championships.
However, Frank is still a cautious man, and for him, the next game is the most important. I remember interviewing him in late 1996 when his car was dominant and he said, "Yeah, but next year we might fall to the ground, I wouldn't be shocked." He knows very well the power and wealth that comes with the Ferrari/Michael Schumacher 'marriage' and he has always had a lot of respect for Ron Dennis, saying "Ron always sees what happens in the next five years and I'm lucky if I can predict what will happen in two years' time." ”
As it turned out, his pessimistic prediction was only a year away. Williams fell out of favor after Renault's exit in 1998 and has struggled very much ever since until new leagues with BMW and Montoya bring them back to the ranks of the title race.
When BMW left Williams for Sauber in 2006, the team's operations became more difficult, but racing was Frank's life and he never gave up. In 2012, it was great to see him and his family, wife Ginny, and children Jonathan, Claire and Jamie in Barcelona, when Maldonado won a sensational victory for the team.
Frank is not a casual person at times, he never coddles his drivers. In 1983, he halved Jacques Laffite's salary; in 1992 he refused to offer Nigel Mansell a better contract, in 1994 he received Ayrton Senna, who was very happy to lose Alain Prost; in 1997 he abandoned Damon Hill in favor of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Daughter Claire will eventually take over the team with Mike Driscoll until it is acquired by Dollyton in 2020.
Sir Frank Williams is a racing giant and without a doubt one of the bravest and most loyal people the sport has ever seen.
Sir Frank Williams: 1942-2021