New American owners to sack Claire Williams? (2nd Update)

This rumor is upgraded to ‘fact’ with today’s two announcements – Announcement 1 and Announcement 2.

Although Claire Williams said she decided to step down from the team it’s very likely she was politely asked to leave.

This rumor is downgraded to ‘speculation’ today. Claire Williams insists that leadership of the Williams F1 team will remain unchanged after its recent sale to Dorilton Capital, at least for the time being.

“This is very early days, and it is business as usual,” Williams said when asked about her position. “I am running the team in my capacity, and that will continue to be the case.”

Williams was asked to clarify what she meant by “business as usual” on several occasions but replied by simply repeating the phrase.

She said the sale ended a stressful period of time in charge of the team.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say it had been an emotional few months, but we have managed to get our heads around it and that is a good thing.

“At Williams, we have always put the team first. It has been at the heart of the Williams family.

“We put our people first and our success and the future of our team first when making decisions in what we do. So it was almost a no-brainer for us. The team needed the investment, and it now has a really bright future under its new owners and you will see the Williams name racing in Formula One.”

Williams announced yesterday that they have been acquired by an American investment firm called Dorilton Capital. Dutch driver Renger van der Zande expects that current team boss Claire Williams will be pushed aside soon.

“If all goes well, Claire will be gone next week”, says van der Zande during a broadcast of the Formula 1 Café of Ziggo Sport. According to the Dutchman, everyone in the paddock knows that she made some bad choices that did not benefit the team.

“It’s just that she is the daughter of the boss, that’s why she had priority. But that is no longer the case now”, the IMSA driver said. According to van der Zande, there is no reason anymore for Dorilton Capital to keep Claire Williams on board.

Van der Zande says Williams should take an example from Mercedes: “Mercedes could get success in F1 by buying the best people away from other teams everywhere. That’s the trick. It’s a people sport. If you have the right people on board, you can get far. If you put them together, you’ll be fine.”