Sir Frank Williams home and ‘on the mend’

Jon Wilde
Sir Frank Williams

Sir Frank Williams

Some fantastic news heading into the Christmas holidays – Sir Frank Williams has been discharged from hospital and is convalescing at home.

On December 15, the Williams family had issued a statement to say the 78-year-old was in a stable condition in hospital but without revealing any information about what he was being treated for.

They had stressed his condition was a private matter and would not be releasing any further details, asking for their privacy to be respected and that the team would release another update in due course.

That update arrived on Christmas Eve afternoon and was the one that Formula 1 fans had been dearly hoping for.

“We are delighted to say that Sir Frank has been discharged from hospital and is now on the mend at home,” said a tweet from the official Williams Racing account.

“The Williams family would like to thank everyone for their support during this difficult time and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

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Sir Frank, founder of Williams Formula 1, marked 50 years as a team principal last year and won nine constructors’ World Championships between 1980 and 1997, with his drivers claiming seven individual titles during the same period.

He and his family, including daughter Claire who had run proceedings as deputy team principal since 2013, left Formula 1 after the Italian Grand Prix in early September having approved the sale of the team to American investment company Dorilton Capital.

Sir Frank has had to use a wheelchair since a car accident in 1986 and he began to reduce his workload in Formula 1 in 2012 when he stepped down from the Williams board, with Claire taking over as the family representative.

A year later, Claire was appointed deputy team principal, looking after the day-to-day running.

Sir Frank spent time in hospital in 2016 recovering from pneumonia and subsequently stopped travelling to races, although he made a rare appearance at last year’s British Grand Prix.

PlanetF1 wishes Sir Frank a continued speedy recovery, as well as a Merry Christmas to all of the Williams family – and, of course, to our readers!

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