Formula 1 Racing team Williams has lost its iconic leader Sir Frank William. The Founder of the highly popular Racing team passed away on Sunday. According to reports he had suffered bouts of pneumonia and was admitted to hospital on Friday.
Team Williams on their microblogging site wrote : It is with great sadness that on behalf of the Williams family, the team can confirm the death of Sir Frank Williams CBE, Founder and Former Team Principal of Williams Racing, at the age of 79.
Sir Frank Williams was a true giant of F1 Racing Business
One of the sport’s greatest inspirations with a legacy that will live on forever.
Stefano Domenciali, the F1 head in a statement said “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. His incredible achievements and personality will be etched on our sport forever. My thoughts are with all the Williams family and their friends at this sad time.”
William Racing cars was founded in 1966 by Sir Frank Williams and was primarily competing in Formula 2 and 3. They made the transition to Formula 1 in 1969 and stepped up the performance of their cars through redefined engines.
The initial few years were full of crisis moments and on-track disasters with Williams having to sell a 60% stake to maintain the debt flow. The golden period of Williams Racing came post-1980 with several top racers lining up for Williams. This also included Ayrton Senna who was one of the best F1 racers of all time.
