Claire Williams says her father, team founder Frank Williams, has no plans for retirement.

Speaking in the wake of the announcement that the Grove outfit lost £42.5m in 2014, deputy team principal Williams said her father, who established the team in 1977, will basically keep going until he drops.

"Frank's team principal, always has been, always will be, until we find him one day face down on the desk," she said, according to the Guardian.

"Frank is in there 24/7," she continued. "He's in the office more than any of us. He loves it, he's passionate about it. Frank is there, he always will be and he has no plans to retire. It wouldn't be the same without him."

Tetraplegic following a road crash in 1986 as he made his way to Nice Airport following testing at Paul Ricard, Williams, who was knighted in 1999, still runs the team which has won 7 drivers' titles and 9 Constructors' Championships.

Following a number of years in the F1 doldrums, the Grove outfit is now on the ascendant, thanks to some typically canny recruitment, which in turn led to a major change of team structure, the decision to use Mercedes engines and an exciting title sponsorship deal.

However, the team is taking nothing for granted.

"We have to work harder and smarter to make sure we work efficiently," said Williams, according to Reuters. "It is not how much money you spend - Toyota spent £500m and never won a grand prix - but the shape and structure of your organisation and how efficiently you operate.

Responding to claims that the Martini sponsorship deal was undersold, she said: "We are more flexible in our approach than certain other teams, but that's not to say that we ever undersell ourselves. There's commentary that Martini may have been undersold. Well, no. Not at all. We can't do that because we can't afford to do that."

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1. Posted by Hondawho?, 28/04/2015 11:58

"Great news, why should he anyway? The sport needs "reliable elders" and Sir Frank is one of them who has seen it, done, got several T shirts and has an opinion (based on pure experience) on the right, wrong and sometimes pure complicated and sometimes difficult way to do things.

I think the day he is not around, will be a very sad day for the sport and besides I would enjoy seeing them win more championships with him there, and I think he knows his great team are on their way of achieving that goal again. He has I think a great combination of a Williams family member (Claire) along with Pat Symonds, running the team on a daily basis. What a great opportunity for all the staff at Williams Grand Prix.

NO; before anything is thought about my comments, "it must be a Williams team member writing this"; I am NOT involved with them at all, I am old enough to have seem them come from nothing, to the glory years (where in the Leyland days I was involved a little and their hospitality has never been beaten in my book even by today's standard and that was 1979) to where they are today with plans for tomorrow. In the days of these uncertainties they should be held high as a great example."

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Frank Williams has "no plans to retire"

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