A Sad Life

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I watched the Frank Williams story the other day. The man behind Williams Racing and I found the documentary very interesting, but also very sad. For those of you that watch Formula One you would have seen him in his wheelchair around the paddock or behind the scenes in the pits. He was the driving force behind the team for so long.

From humble beginnings and a tough upbringing where his family spent whatever money they had on his education and it was miles away in Scotland at a boarding school. He would only come home a few times a year so it wasn't the happiest of times for him. I think this had an impact on who he was as he could only rely on himself during those years.

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He loved racing and driving cars so being a mechanic was the obvious choice as he didn't want to study further as he had been imprisoned for over 11 years and wanted freedom. A funny thing happened to him as his future wife was engaged to a client of his. He met her 3 weeks before her wedding and she was trying to get out of her wedding plans, but just couldn't do it. After some meet ups here and there on the racing seen she left her husband and the rest was history.

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His workshop expanded into Williams Racing in the 70's when he supplied parts for Racing Cars. With some pushing from some close friends he entered the Formula one scene with a flamboyant driver who was really good.This was 1969 and his driver was Piers Courage. Unfortunately and tragically he was killed in a high speed crash in 1970. This took it's toll on Frank Williams and the team.He stepped back from the motor racing scene and was pulled back in 1979 when he formed the current Williams Racing as we know it today.

The Williams Racing team is the last of the original independently owned teams today. They have experienced some great years and won the drivers title in 1980 and have won this accolade 7 times including 9 constructors titles as well. The late 80's and 90's were great years for the team except for Ayrton Senna's tragic accident. The second driver to die driving a Williams car.

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The glory days are just a distant memory now and doubtful if they will return again.

In 1986 Frank was involved in a car crash whilst driving on a country road in France. It was pre season and it shocked the whole team, Honestly Frank wasn't the best at driving and has rolled plenty of cars before this one. Hewas always pushing the limits and he lost control on a sharp bend. He was left paralyzed from the shoulders down and the French doctors had given up on him. Knowing this his wife moved him to a London hospital where he spent months in recovery. Survival was only a slim possibility and his wife Ginny had managed to resuscitate him on more that half a dozen occasions.

The sad thing is today he has his children, but his close friend and wife died a few years ago. He lives and works at the factory with the aid of a care worker and doesn't have a life outside of motor sport. This is a sad existence and didn't know this as he says there is no reason to go home anymore.

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The pressure is now on his daughter to bring the good old days back to Williams.

The team has been struggling of late and his daughter Claire has taken over as the principal of the team which has over 700 staff. They can't compete with their budget anymore and that is around 10 million pounds per month. Other teams have double and sometimes triple that amount.The pressure is surely on everyone involved with the team.