07/04/2018
NEWS STORY
Though team bosses are saying little about Formula One Management's proposals for the future of the sport, Claire Williams has admitted that, from her team's point of view, the plans couldn't have come at a better time.
At a time her team faces the loss of its title sponsor and her driver line-up is possibly one of the most inexperienced and unexciting in living memory, Williams admitted that FOM's proposals have breathed new life into the sport, her team and even had her considering opening a bottle of Champagne to celebrate... not a Martini.
"I was extremely positive, I have to say," she said of the meeting.
"I think we've all hoped for change under our new management and I think today they presented change," she continued.
"For a team like ours, based on what they presented, it was an extremely good day for us. I came back thinking let's crack open some champagne, because from our perspective if we can get these new regulations through, and if Liberty/FOM do everything they say they are going to do, then from our perspective I know that Williams' future is safe.
"That's not to say that we were on the brink, or anywhere close," she added, "but with today's sport and the way it is structured and with the financial disparity between teams then the likelihood of Williams' survival into the medium and long-term was looking pretty bleak.
"Everything they presented from revenue redistribution to cost caps is absolutely everything that we want to see from 2021 and beyond," she insisted, "so I'm personally delighted with the proposals that they laid down. I know that in the past you can have these conversations and they come out and not necessarily anything is ever done about it, but I'm not sure these discussions are negotiable. That's not the message I got anyway."
With two years to go before FOM's proposals are implemented - that's if they are all implemented - based on the Grove outfit's current performances things are likely to get even more bleak in the short-term.
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