It’s the 16th of April 1942, a time of unrest and confusion as WW2 ravaged Europe and Asia. In a town called South Shields roughly 2 hours north of Leeds and 4 hours from Silverstone, Clare and Owen Williams gave birth to their son Francis Owen Garbett Williams. As a young man in the late 50’s he took a ride in a friends Jaguar, and that is where the desire began. Frank wanted to go fast, he had a short career as a driver and a mechanic but his true calling came in 1966. He founded Frank Williams Racing Cars which he funded through his work as a traveling grocery salesman. He ran in Formula 2 and 3 with his driver Piers Courage accumulating two second place finishes in the 1969 season. 1972 saw the first Williams built F1 car which was crashed and destroyed in its very first race. All hope however wasn’t lost thanks to Walter Wolf a Canadian oil guru that helped to fund the new Williams Racing outfit.
The 1979 British Grand Prix would be the day the years of hard work and dedication would pay off when the Williams FW07 piloted by Clay Regazzoni would go on to take the checkered flag bring Frank Williams his first victory, little did he know it was only up from there. The 1980 F1 season would see Alan Jones win the first of 7 drivers titles as the team also took their very first constructors title to wrap up the season. A self made team in only its 3rd season in the sport had done the impossible and rose to the top of motorsport. Between 1981 and ’97 the Williams team would achieve the drivers title 6 more times and Frank saw his team claim 114 grand prix victories.
Frank Williams was not only a class above for motorsport but also for his country, receiving a knighthood in 1999. Sir Frank stepped down from the Williams board in 2012 handing the reigns to his daughter Claire, but would stay at Williams under the role of team principal. There will never be another Frank Williams, his dedication and gifts to the sport we all love is still in full effect after all of these years. We as fans know that without his integrity and work ethic we wouldn’t have seen the talent’s and giants of the sport that we see to this day. We remember him not only as a giant of the motorsport world, but also as a hero to not only us but to his family and everyone who got the chance to call him a friend. His ability to seek out talent and empower those around him have not only created past champions, but has and will form future champions. Thank you Sir Frank Williams may your name forever be immortalized in the art we call motorsport.
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