Long-time Williams-employee Dickie Stanford has been appointed the very first General Manager for Williams Heritage, a new department within Williams that will see him oversee the maintenance and public demonstrations of the historic formula one cars of Williams’ history.
Sir Frank Williams, the founder and Team Principal of Williams said that Stanford was expertly placed to take on this role, and praised his time as Race Team Manager with the team.
“A team of our longevity has many historic assets that need to be cherished and preserved for future generations to enjoy,” said Williams. “Dickie combines strong mechanical knowledge of our cars from his time as a mechanic, with first class operational and logistical skills honed as Race Team Manager. He is therefore perfectly placed to take on the day-to-day operational running of our historic car programme and provide support to Jonathan in ensuring that Williams’ Heritage programme goes from strength to strength. I would personally like to add my thanks to him for his services to the team during his time as Race Team Manager.”
Stanford began his long career with Williams back in 1985 when he was a mechanic for Nigel Mansell, and over the subsequent years worked his way up to chief mechanic, before taking over the role of Team Manager in 1995. He stepped down in 2005 after deciding to spend some time with his family. He returned in 2010 as Race and Test Team Manager, and saw the team through a successful winter ahead of the 2014 season before deciding to retire from life on the road to take on a factory-based position.
As General Manager of Williams Heritage, the fifty-eight-year-old will report to Jonathan Williams and will be responsible for the team of experienced Williams mechanics that maintain the team’s historic racing cars. The cars are housed at the Williams Grand Prix Collection in Oxfordshire, which is the largest private collection of Formula One cars in the world. The events and promotional activities those cars will participate in, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, will also be managed by Stanford.
“I have a lot of passion for the company and its heritage and the opportunity to take charge of our historic car programme is too good to turn down,” said an overwhelmed Stanford. “With the formation of Williams Heritage as a distinct division within Williams, we will be well placed to ensure that our legendary cars continue to be well looked after and can be showcased to Formula One fans for many years to come.”
