Williams becoming ‘more and more attractive’ for drivers

Williams says it is in no rush to finalise its driver line-up for 2022 and believes its recent changes mean it is becoming a “more and more attractive” proposition.

Williams has finished last in the standings across three successive years and has not scored a point since mid-2019.

The team underwent a change of ownership mid-2020, with Dorilton Capital replacing the Williams family, while further restructuring and personnel changes have since taken place.

Williams has fielded George Russell since 2019 while Nicholas Latifi joined a year later.

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Russell, out of contract at the end of 2021, has been heavily linked with a potential move to Mercedes for 2022, ostensibly in place of Valtteri Bottas.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff playfully suggested on Friday that the outfit may not make its decision until the winter months.

Mercedes’ decision will have a knock-on effect on Williams but CEO Jost Capito outlined that “we have the time” to wait on how the situation develops.

“When I see what the contacts are with Williams [it] seems to be the team where the drivers want to go to,” he said.

“They see what the new owners have done, what they are doing, they see the investment, they see the changes of the team, and they see that the spirit is good and they know that Williams very much looks after drivers and employees.

“I think for the months to come, I am sure, Williams will become more and more attractive for drivers so that’s why we don’t have any rush [for 2022].”

Since the last event in Azerbaijan Williams has parted company from Team Principal Simon Roberts, with a new structure in place.

Technical Director ‘FX’ Demaison has taken charge of engineering while Williams is in the process of recruiting a Sporting Director.

“In the first 100 days I took a huge effort to understand how the team works,” explained Capito, who joined in February.

“I talked to more than 80 managers in one-to-one meetings and I asked them all the same questions so I got a good overview of what we should change, what we should keep.

“It became clear that engineering should be all in one hand – track engineering, design, aero. And that should be under the technical director, and a technical director who has done all jobs in racing, and FX is exactly that person.

“You have a technical director in charge of everything related to the car and you have a sporting director related to everything not [to do with] the car and makes a race team work and function, so that the technical people can fully focus on the performance.”