Claire Williams has stated that Williams Martini Racing “will close” if a proposed budget cap doesn’t come to fruition in 2021.
Formula 1 owners Liberty Media presented their plan for the 2021 regulations to all the teams shortly before the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. High on the agenda was a budget cap that restricted team spending, allowing for smaller teams such as Williams to narrow the gap to the sport’s top three.
But not all teams were smitten with the proposed changes, particularly the cap on spending. Williams, however, has made it clear that the iconic outfit will cease to operate if that budget cap isn’t part of the new regulations.
“If I look at it from my perspective, if we don’t do this, then Williams will close, the whole of the company,” Williams told racefans.net.
“[In Bahrain] I was very positive about it, but then there are some of the people that are very negative about it.
“We are lucky that this works for us, but it think it probably demonstrates the fact that our team, track performance aside, is a good model of how a Formula One team should be operating in our sport.”
The budget cap, a rumoured one-hundred-and-fifty million dollars would likely see some of the larger teams make cuts to their personnel. But Williams sees a cap on spending as necessary, for the good of the sport as well as smaller team’s survival.
“It pains me to say, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture for the sake of the sport,” she added.
“I don’t know the exact numbers and yes, of course it’s going to be difficult for teams to restructure and reorganise, and yes, of course the thought of anybody losing their job as a result is not something we welcome in any way, shape or form.”
