26/04/2019
NEWS STORY
Claire Williams has categorically denied media claims that Dmitry Mazepin is in talks to buy the team.
Mazepin, father of Formula 2 racer Nikita, is a non-executive director of the Russian potash fertilizer producer and exporter Uralkali, which was previously involved in legal action with the administrators of Force India following the team's purchase by Lawrence Stroll's consortium, has recently been linked with Williams, with some sections of the media claiming he wishes to invest in the team and others suggesting he is looking for a complete buy-out.
However, speaking at today's official press conference, Claire Williams was keen to dismiss the speculation.
"I saw those stories, and I paid little attention to them," she said. "I haven't met Mr Mazepin to talk about that.
"We had a brief conversation in the mid part of last year," she continued, "but subsequent to that there have been no conversations.
"I'd just like to be really categoric about it," she added, "Williams is not for sale, I have no intention of putting Williams up for sale. I don't see why we would.
"In times like this that the team is going through at the moment, this rumour always come up," she sighed. "But with my business head on, when your team isn't doing well selling at this juncture wouldn't be the right time to do. We'd only investigate that opportunity if we were doing well. That's the right time to sell.
"Williams is in this sport and has been for more than four decades and we've never wanted to sell. This is what we do, we don't have anything else to do. So it's not on the market, I don't want to sell it to anybody, I want to go out and prove that we can do what we are in the sport to do, and that's to get back on the podium and win races again.
"That may take us a long time, but it took Frank more than ten years to do it when he first started in this sport, and I'm sure that we'll have a lot more stuff thrown at us. But you don't give up when times get tough. It's a test of your character to continue and prove to everybody that you can do it."
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