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Sir Frank Williams has been the recipient of my praise for many years now and while I don’t always agree with his “con” position to everyone’s “pro,” I certainly can appreciate the logic applied in most cases.
Williams seems to me to be a man of character, integrity and decorum, but I suspect there is a rapier wit behind the all-very-British exterior. The interview at Arabian Business seems to bear that out.
Williams has never been one to mince words regarding issues that involve F1 and as one of the longest privateers in the business; he shouldn’t.
What’s most interesting is his willingness to discuss topics that are otherwise taboo in F1 circles and certainly to discuss them in the detail and candor that Williams does:
On Michael Schumacher’s return to F1: “Not a chance. No.”
On ex-Ferrari-boss-turned-FIA president Jean Todt: “He was a very difficult character. Very hard to get on with.”
On former president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Max Mosley: “Max is seriously unfairly clever.”
On having an independent team: “Being independent means lots of things, not just not having enough money.”
And on who is the fastest driver today: “Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel.”
No conversation about aerodynamics can be fully completed without the mention of Adrian Newey and as a former employee of Williams, there is little doubt that his prowess with pencil and paper is well knows:
“There is a man who works in Formula One at the moment, he works for Red Bull, called Adrian Newey. When it comes to where the air goes around the car, he is a magician. He just understands it.
He has a brilliant understanding of aerodynamics. He was with us for about eight years, and then McLaren pinched him for a great deal of money. Now he is getting even richer, but he deserves it, at Red Bull.
“I don’t know when his contract finishes. Everyone is dying to know. But the Red Bull man is spending a great deal of money, his own money, and I think he is happy there unfortunately,” he chuckles.
It is also intriguing that Williams seemed to know the fate of Toyota as the interview took place over the Abu Dhabi race weekend well prior to the Japanese car makers announcement.
“There is certainly one manufacturer going, and Honda has already gone. The next, we think, will be Toyota—although I don’t know, I am only surmising.
"Toyota doesn’t share their business dealings with Williams. They’ve had such poor results really for years. I imagine they’ll withdraw sooner rather than later,” he says.
The intriguing part of the interview for me was his comments on new FIA president Jean Todt, as well as the former president Max Mosley. Todt first:
“I must try to be a diplomat here. He ran Ferrari for a long time. He was very successful. His methods weren’t methods that we would use. But he delivered. He was then a difficult character. Very hard to get on with.
"Very clever, don’t misunderstand me, he did a fantastic job for Ferrari. And he had a brilliant driver with Schumacher. But hard man, hard worker, long career in motorsport.
Now that he is in the presidential role, and I met him recently, I think he has taken some charm lessons. I mean that in the right way. I think he is going to try to be a different character, with a more paternal view of Formula One generally.”
But what about the famed Ferrari Red Rule that always goes Ferrari’s way?
“I imagine he will know everyone is watching out for that, so he will be behaving himself. He’ll soon hear about it from the teams if we think there is a bias. And frankly I think he will be very straightforward about it all.”
And what of Mosley?
“Always mixed feelings about Max. Max is seriously unfairly clever. His father was brilliant politician in his day, despite the fact his views were unusual, to say it charitably. Max inherited all of his brainpower and his ruthlessness.
"He was almost impossible to beat in any argument, legal or otherwise. His greatest contribution to F1 was safety.
"When three drivers were killed in 18 months, including Ayrton Senna, he shook F1 by the head and by the tail. He made us make much stronger cars, and they have been very safe since.”
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