Williams enjoys status but eyes carmaker alliance

Williams wants to remain an independent formula one team, new chairman Adam Parr has insisted.

Now into a sixth consecutive season without a win, and thirteen seasons on since Jacques Villeneuve’s title, the famous British outfit might be ruing life in the paddock.

But Parr says Williams is “not actively looking” for a partner.  “We are independent and we enjoy that independence,” he is quoted as saying by the Motorsport Aktuell website.

Lotus boss and owner Tony Fernandes, whose AirAsia brand sponsors both his own team as well as Williams, admitted last weekend that he did have talks “about buying into Williams but it never worked out”.

After the works relationship with BMW ended in 2005, Parr admits that the days with carmaker backing – also including Williams’ past tie-ups with Honda and Renault – were good for performance.

Sir Frank Williams admitted at Silverstone that his team’s lack of results recently is “embarrassing”, and rumours suggest the feelers are out for a future partnership with Volkswagen.

“In the long term, the best model for an independent team is to form a partnership with an automotive manufacturer who supply the engines and a bit of sponsorship and we go racing,” said Parr.

“I think that is ultimately what we want again one day,” he added.

© RIF | GMM