Williams family departure best for team

(GMM) Former team driver Ralf Schumacher (above) says he supports the departure of the Williams family from the eponymous British team.

Schumacher raced for Williams between 1999 and 2004, winning all six of his race wins there.

He says more recent seasons have shown that selling up, and now the departure of Claire and Sir Frank Williams, were finally the right moves.

“The team will be able to keep going, because the majority of the people there have many years of experience and are proud of their past achievements,” Schumacher, 45, told Sky Deutschland.

“In recent years, the car has not progressed at all, no new people joined the team, the factory at Grove was not modernized. I believe the family has made the right decision.

“I remember when they missed the opportunity to sell to BMW and from there I think everything went downhill.”

It is not clear who will replace team boss Claire Williams for the forthcoming race at Mugello.

“The new leadership needs to decide quickly who they want to keep at the team and what needs to be changed,” Schumacher said.

“The season is well advanced now, so they need to act quickly. If they want to make progress for next season, every day counts.”