Formula One motorsport boss Ross Brawn is confident the new rules laid out for the sport over the next few years will help the Williams team attract a new buyer.
Williams is prepared to end decades family control of the team as part of a new strategic direction to revive its F1 fortunes. The team, founded by Frank Williams, is one of the most successful in the championship’s history, winning a string of titles in the 1980s and 1990s.
F1 has moved to future-proof the sport during the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing on a budget cap which will be scaled back from $145 million in 2021 to $135 m by 2023. It will also introduce a sliding scale of aerodynamic development weighted in reverse order of championship finish, in other words giving the team which finishes 10th the most car development time in a windtunnel the following year.
Brawn hopes those new regulations will make investing in Williams, which has finished bottom of the order two years in a row, a good option for any interested parties.
“I think what’s encouraging is there are quite a lot of sensible people looking at Williams because they can see the opportunities in the future,” Brawn told Racer. “I think they can see the improving landscape for Formula 1 – economically, commercially, and the competitiveness that an independent team should have in the future.
“I think they see it as a prime time, even in these extremely challenging times they still see it as an opportunity. So I think there’s every chance Williams will be taking on some new partners in the future.
“We’d like to see it stay as Williams, and stay with the heritage and history of Williams. It’s a great team and we’d like to retain that. I think there’s some fairly sensible people now looking at the opportunity to get involved with Williams and give it the support it needs to be successful in the future.”
The F1 season is set to start on July 5 at a behind-closed-doors Austrian Grand Prix. The race will take place under strict protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19.