Frank Williams, the founder of Formula One outfit Williams Racing, has died at the age of 79, the team announced yesterday.
The team won the F1 drivers’ title seven times and the constructors’ championship on nine occasions under Williams’ stewardship, although the most recent triumphs came in 1997.
Williams built his team into a dominant Formula 1 force in the 1980s and 1990s, winning nine constructors’ world championships and seven drivers’ titles.
The Englishman stepped down from the board of Williams Formula One in 2012 and his family ended 43 years of involvement in the team last year, following its sale to Dorilton Capital.
Williams had used a wheelchair since being injured in a car crash in France in 1986.
“The Williams Racing team is truly saddened by the passing of our founder Sir Frank Williams,” the team said in a statement. “Sir Frank was a legend and icon of our sport. His passing marks the end of an era for our team and for the sport of Formula 1. He was one of a kind and a true pioneer.
Current Williams driver George Russell paid his own tribute on Twitter.
“Today, we say goodbye to the man who defined our team,” he wrote. “Sir Frank was such a genuinely wonderful human being and I’ll always remember the laughs we shared.
“He was more than a boss, he was a mentor and a friend to everybody who joined the Williams Racing family and so many others.”
Formula One president Stefano Domenicali said Formula One had lost a “much-loved and respected member of the F1 family”.
“He was a true giant of our sport that overcame the most difficult of challenges in life and battled every day to win on and off the track,” he said
In 1977, Frank Williams joined forces with innovative motor racing engineer Patrick Head to launch the Williams Formula, One team.
