Williams have denied that their deal with development driver Lance Stroll could lead to his father Lawrence Stroll becoming a shareholder in the outfit.
In an effort to help Stroll’s racing career, Williams are helping him with his career development, this includes extensive simulator work. When the Canadian moved from a position in Ferrari’s junior driver programme to a development driver role with Williams Martini Racing, this prompted talk about a wider motive involving Lawrence Stroll as a stake holder.
At a media briefing to discuss Williams’ 2015 financial results, the team confirmed that there has been no conversations with Lawrence or anyone else regarding investing in the team.
CEO Mike O’Driscoll for the Williams group said: “We have never talked to Lawrence about shareholding. We have a really strong shareholder structure today: Frank [Williams] with majority, Brad Hollinger (15 percent) , Patrick Head who still owns 10 percent and then the rest free flow.
“I think we have a really strong shareholder structure today and we haven’t had conversations with either Lawrence nor anyone else about investing in the team.”
