Ferocious Drive

AS everyone knows it today, Formula One is a sport of glamour and huge expense. Monaco, yachts, private jets and annual budgets in excess of RM1 billion to even hope of reaching a podium finish.
At the centre of all that, however, is a man who started in this sport battling the bailiffs - from a telephone booth that was his office.
He has gone on to build one of the greatest teams in Formula One, and won the highest accolade possible in the sport - which was the regulating body Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's decision to change the rules because of his team's domination of a category.
His blood is as blue as you can get in racing. He is Sir Frank Williams, whose first season in the 1970s cost roughly STG25,000, compared to an estimated STG220 million budget today that he spends on putting two racing cars on the track 17 times a year under the banner of BMW.WilliamsF1.
Sir Frank, who turns 61 on April 16, was knighted in 1999 for his contributions to British motor sport. Thirteen years previously, he was involved in a horrific car accident which put him in a wheelchair.
The same ferocious drive that made him run 70 miles every week before the accident in 1986 is what keeps him to a punishing travel schedule.
This year's 16-race season starts in Australia and Kuala Lumpur in March, and continues with 13 races in Europe, the US and Latin America before finishing in Japan. Belgium has been dropped. The season is expected to go back to 17 races next year with the inclusion of Shanghai.
That determination is also what brought him the most dominant team of the 1990s. His focus never wavered, and together with partner and team technical director Patrick Head, WilliamsF1 has raked in nine Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships.
Almost anyone in the Formula One pit would have greeted their driver's second place in the Australian Grand Prix with glee. Not Frank Williams, or his lieutenant of 25 years, Head.
Their reputation in dealing with drivers - who, in the public eye, take all the glory - is legendary. The partners of 26 years have sacked no less than two world champions after they won drivers' titles for Williams.
Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, having become world champions, thought for the briefest of moments that they could command the Williams team. One ended up failing a seat-fitting for McLaren in 1993, and the other, playing guitar at charity functions.
There is no doubt that Sir Frank and Head will continue to dictate the pace for all drivers who are fortunate enough to sit in a car engineered by WilliamsF1.
It may well be that they have at least one of the two best drivers in the Formula One World Championship today. But the likes of the Colombian cruiser Juan Pablo Montoya would do well to resist stamping his pudgy paw on the shiny throttle mid-way through a corner - especially after the British Grand Prix in July, where electronic assistance will be no more.
Without question, Sir Frank has secured his place in Formula One history through the sheer competitiveness of the WilliamsF1 team. Head and Sir Frank's 28-year-old son Jonathan, who is now involved in the business, can be expected to continue to build on the Williams tradition.
And that will only be to the benefit of all Formula One fans.

Q: What does Formula One mean to you?
A: It is my passion, it is my life, a fascinating business.

Q: What do you think of the new ruling on qualifying?
A: (FIA did it) for several reasons. One, may be to make (the) qualifying (session) better for the fans. Previously, you see only a few cars on the track in the first 30 minutes of qualifying (on Saturday). The more cars run at any one time, the quicker the track becomes. The quicker the track, the quicker is the time, not the fuel load. But everyone waits for the last 30 minutes to go out.
By extending it another day, it makes better television viewing and helps get more sponsors.

Q: It (winning) depends on strategy?
A: It does depend on strategies. We (the cars) carried a lot of fuel during qualifying (at the Australian race). Ferrari carried a lot more than us. It is quite a different situation as drivers get a different kind of confidence (depending) on the fuel on board, whether it is 7 kilos or
100 kilos.

Q: The F1 World Championship 2003 has just started and you are already
taking a break?
A: A rare event. We work 52 weeks a year on F1 and 17 times a year we stop work to go racing.

Q: Who are the best drivers on the track today?
A: Everyone says Michael (Schumacher) is the best driver in F1 now ... (David) Coulthard and (Kimi) Raikonnen (another McLaren driver) are up the alley ... (but where drivers are concerned it's) very subjective.

Q: Who is your idol?
A: Sir Jackie Stewart (former World Champion Driver). He was and still
is.

Q: You've said that four key elements of a modern-day F1 package are car, driver, tyres and engine. Does WilliamsF1 have these for the 2003 season?
A: We have had a reasonable start. We have a brand-new car... we've not got the best out of it yet.

Q: You've been described as "a dealer, a fitness fanatic who was happiest thinking on his feet. As a race driver, he was erratic: as a team manager and owner, he possessed that indefinable something that is key to survival." How far is this true?
A: Well, as a dealer, that was 35 years ago. I was erratic as a race driver. (I was racing until) I broke my neck. As a team manager and owner, we all know that in a business like this, where you have 200 to 500 people working for you, it is a team effort.

Q: Besides motor racing, what are your other interests? How much time do you spend on these?
A: Aviation, reading, classical music. I spend like 2 per cent of my time on them. The rest is on Formula One. Like I told you earlier, it is my passion.

Q: Where do you source your strength from?
A: You source your energy from this (passion). It gets you going. It gets you up in the mornings.