Formula 1’s head of motorsports, Ross Brawn, is hopeful the sport’s new rules will help Williams in its search for a buyer for the historic team.
The team was recently put up for sale after it posted a large financial loss in its latest set of accounts, but is also exploring other methods of raising capital including a partial sale or outside investment.
It comes as F1 has taken steps to secure the future of smaller teams which are struggling to compete on greatly reduced budgets compared to the manufacturer teams.
Part of that is a new $145 million budget cap, down from an initial sum of $175m, as well as a new sliding scale on development that will see teams at the bottom of the championship table receive more wind tunnel and CFD time than those higher up.
Brawn believes the rule changes make buying into Williams a far more attractive proposal.
“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.”
Team boss Claire Williams admits any potential sale could see the Williams name disappear from the sport, but Brawn remains hopeful it will remain as an important part of Formula 1’s history.
“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.”
A leading candidate believed to be interested in purchasing the team is the father of driver Nicholas Latifi. Michael Latifi is a Canadian businessman who has already invested in the team through personal loans, but is also a shareholder in the McLaren Group.
