Claire Williams awarded OBE

Claire Williams has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s 2016 Birthday Honours List.

Williams, the daughter of the F1 team’s founder Frank Williams, joined the outfit in 2002 and worked her way up to director of marketing and communications.

She was promoted to deputy team boss in 2013 and was instrumental in the successful restructuring of the Williams Group over the past three years, which yielded back-to-back P3s in the 2014 and 2015 Constructors’ Championships.

On Friday it was announced that she would be appointed an OBE for her services to Formula 1.

“Today is a very proud day for me, but this is also a bit of a surprise,” she said. “To be recognised in this way is a tremendous honour but one everyone at Williams can take credit for.

“I’m extremely lucky that I get to do a job that I love. To be able to play a role in a family legacy is an enormous privilege and one I don’t take for granted.

“Formula One, and Williams, are great success stories for the UK and I will continue to use my role to help showcase what a great sport Formula One is, what a brilliant platform for this country’s expertise in high class engineering it is, as well as a place that welcomes women across all of its disciplines.”