Russell will ‘drive like hell’ to honour Williams
George Russell has promised to “drive like hell” to honour the Williams team after the Williams family announced they will walk away after the Italian GP.
Monza will mark the final time that Claire Williams serves as the deputy principal of her father’s team as they walk away from the outfit that Sir Frank Williams founded in 1977. It truly is the end of an era.
The news comes after private equity fund Dorilton purchased the Williams team two weeks ago.
In a statement Claire Williams said that she had “hoped to continue her tenure long into the future and to preserve the Williams family’s legacy into the next generation.”
But the “need to find inward investment earlier this year due to a number of factors, many of which were outside of our control, resulted in the sale of the team to Dorilton Capital.”
Following the news Williams driver George Russell took to social media, promising that he will “drive like hell” to honour the Williams name.
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I wouldn't be where I am today without Frank and Claire. They gave me my shot in F1, like they have done for so many drivers, engineers, mechanics and countless others over the years. Thank you for everything. We'll keep driving like hell to honour the Williams name.
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) September 3, 2020
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Frank and Claire,” he wrote in a tweet.
“They gave me my shot in F1, like they have done for so many drivers, engineers, mechanics and countless others over the years.
“Thank you for everything. We’ll keep driving like hell to honour the Williams name.”
Russell could hand the Williams family the perfect leaving present by scoring his first points in Formula 1 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Williams Heritage Driver and Formula 1 pundit Karun Chandhok also took to social media to express his sadness as the final true family owners leave the sport.
End of an era as the last of the family owners (like Chapman, Tyrell, Ron Dennis, Minardi) in F1 bows out. A sad day to see the house that Frank and Patrick built be vacated by the family but inevitable that the new owners would want their own people in charge of the business now https://t.co/uKPuTDGJrE
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) September 3, 2020
“End of an era as the last of the family owners (like Chapman, Tyrell, Ron Dennis, Minardi) in F1 bows out,” he wrote.
“A sad day to see the house that Frank and Patrick built be vacated by the family but inevitable that the new owners would want their own people in charge of the business now.”
As for who will take over as team principal, Russell joked that he will take on a driver/team principal role.
“I’m not sure if it has been announced yet but I’m going to be taking on a driver/manager role, becoming team principal!,” he said during a press conference ahead of the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
On Instagram Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo wrote: Williams has always been a prominent name in F1.
“So sad to see this journey come to an end but as a fan of the sport I can’t thank you enough for the memories and your contribution over all these years.”
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