Billionaire looks to buy a F1 team so his son can race (4th Update)

Latifi's billionaire dad Michael in running to buy Williams

UPDATE (GMM) Three names are in the fray as potential buyers for the struggling F1 backmarker Williams.

That is the claim of Italy's authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport, reporting that 2020 race driver Nicholas Latifi's wealthy father is the frontrunner.

Correspondent Mario Salvini says Michael Latifi has already loaned the British team EUR 22 million amid the corona crisis, "with the historic Williams museum as collateral".

"His son's career is important to him, but his interest in the sport is broader," Salvini said of Latifi, who already co-owns McLaren and runs Sofina Foods.

The second name linked with the Williams buy-out is another father of a driver – Dmitry Mazepin. The Russian oligarch's son Nikita races in Formula 2.

Mazepin made a bid for Racing Point some time ago "but the administrator preferred Lawrence Stroll", Salvini claims.

And the third potential Williams buyer is Chanoch Nissany, an Israeli entrepreneur who even took part in a free practice session for Minardi in 2005.

Fascinatingly, Nissany's son Roy is also a Formula 2 driver, and according to La Gazzetta dello Sport his father "can count on a lot of financial support in Israel".

Dmitry Mazepin (L) wants to buy an F1 team so his son Nikita can race in F1. But would he agree to keep the Williams name?

06/09/20 Juan Pablo Montoya believes poor decision making from Williams’ hierarchy has led to the team’s demise but hopes someone will save the beleaguered outfit.

Montoya feels Williams has only itself to blame.

“In my opinion, there are people who are very good at certain things," the former F1 driver explained to Motorsport.com.

“It is like saying ‘you are very good as a journalist, but that you are a good journalist does not necessarily mean that you are good at managing a channel or a newspaper, because you are good at reporting, not necessarily driving journalists.

“So when you get a person who is good at certain things to do others, not what they are good at, it doesn’t help.

“And I think that was one of the big problems that Williams had, that in despair they started hiring people, they believed that it was the solution and they did not take advantage of what people were good at, but instead made them manage others."

“Hopefully they survive," he said. “Probably someone is going to put money there and end up putting their son there, as happens many times." [Think Mazepin]

“If you look for example at what happened with Tyrrell, who was an incredible team for many years and when it went wrong, it went very wrong until it was over," Montoya added. “And it was a team that won everything"

06/01/20 (GMM) Williams will have new colors once the racing gets up and running in July.

Last Friday, the famous backmarker team not only announced its split with title sponsor Rokit, Williams also admitted it may be sold.

"This certainly doesn't mean that the team won't go on for many years," team deputy Claire Williams, whose father Sir Frank founded the team in 1977, told Speed Week.

"For us, it's about securing the future of the team and ensuring that we have a successful future."

Speed Week claims that the London sports marketing agency 1920 Worldwide is helping Williams to handle the situation.

"Williams has always done a good job of attracting new partners and I believe that we will continue to do so," Claire added. "This is a great brand and a great team and we are on a very exciting journey."

The Rokit split means Williams will look to change its livery prior to the racing restart in Austria from July.

"We'll be unveiling our new livery before we hit the track," Claire Williams revealed.

As for whether the famous Williams name could disappear after a potential sale, she added: "It's too early to speculate about that but I think the Williams family would certainly like to see the Williams name stay in Formula 1."

05/29/20 (GMM) Backmarker Formula 1 team Williams has admitted it may be sold.

On Friday, the former world champions admitted that after slumping to dead last in 2019, a $16 million profit has now become a similar sized loss.

And that was before the corona crisis struck.

In a statement of its disappointing annual results, Williams CEO Mike O'Driscoll also confirmed that current title sponsor Rokit will depart.

The company sold its Williams Advanced Engineering arm at the end of last year, and now admits that the entire team could be next.

"Options being considered include raising new capital for the business, a divestment of a minority stake, or a divestment of a majority stake including a potential sale of the whole company," Friday's statement reads.

Williams said financial advisers have been appointed to oversee the 'formal sale process', revealing: "Parties with a potential interest in Williams should contact (financial advisers) Allen and Co or Lazard".

"The company is not in receipt of any approaches at the time of this announcement and confirms that it is in preliminary discussions with a small number of parties regarding a potential investment in the company," said Williams.

"While the company has faced a number of challenges, Williams currently remains funded and ready to resume racing when the calendar allows in 2020."

Dmitry Mazepin (L) and Lawrence Stroll (R) battled for control of Force India so their sons could have a guaranteed F1 ride. Stroll won, so now Mazepin wants to buy Renault F1

05/27/20 (GMM) A potential buyer for embattled the Williams or Renault Formula 1 team has emerged.

On Tuesday, it emerged that about 75 members of the McLaren team are losing their jobs, with chairman Paul Walsh admitting it is a "challenging time for our company".

At the same time, reports suggest that Renault's obvious financial problems could also be set to come to a head in the coming days and weeks.

Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport even claims that a potential buyer for the Enstone based team may have been identified.

He is Dmitry Mazepin, a Russian billionaire whose son Nikita races in Formula 2.

In recent years, Mazepin and his company Uralkali have been linked with other team buyouts that did not materialize, including Williams and Racing Point.

"The name that comes to the surface is always the same," La Gazzetta wrote, referring to Mazepin.

Giancarlo Minardi, a former F1 team owner and boss, commented: "Renault is in these days busily asking for government aid, so I find it difficult to imagine that the F1 project can continue beyond 2021.

"But it will not be easy to find a suitable buyer as we are not talking about a winning team at the moment," he added.