Williams’ deputy team boss Claire Williams says having grands prix in 2020 is “critical” for the squad and concedes the current situation is “incredibly worrying.”
The Formula 1 season is on hiatus until at least late June due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the opening nine races either postponed or cancelled.
Williams, which finished at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship for the past two years, is one of several teams to have furloughed some of its staff for the foreseeable future.
“It is an incredibly difficult environment that Formula 1 finds itself in right now.” Williams told Sky Sports News.
“But that’s shared by many businesses around the world due to this unprecedented situation.
“That is why we have spent so much time locked away in so many meetings to make sure we do everything we need to, to make sure all of us come out of this, at the end of this year, unscathed.
“A big part of that is when we are able go racing again, particularly for a team like ours – we are one of the few true independents left.
“We don’t have the backing that the majority of our competitors have up and down the grid.
“For us, going racing is actually critical this year, but as I have said, only when it’s safe to do so.”
Formula 1 has previously indicated that it still believes it can form a calendar of between 15 and 18 races, though has yet to publicly present a revised schedule.
“It is incredibly worrying at the moment regarding what is going to happen, because the situation is so fluid,” added Williams.
“We just can’t foresee into the future whether we will have 15 races, eight races or zero races. Clearly we hope it is more, rather than less.”
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