Claire Williams insists she has no intention of selling the Formula 1 team that bears her family name, following speculation that billionaire Dmitry Mazepin has shown an interest.
Mazepin, father of Formula 2 racer Nikita Mazepin, made a bid for Force India last year but lost out to Lawrence Stroll and has now been linked to Williams.
Whilst the team isn't in desperate need of financial assistance – though it operates on one of the smaller budgets – it is in a dire situation performance wise, with the team's FW42 well off the pace and firmly bringing up the rear of the grid, therefore a major cash boost could aid their turnaround.
Deputy team principal Williams insists there have been no conversations with Mazepin about selling the team and made it clear that it isn't for sale in its current situation.
"I saw those stories; 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, but subsequent to that there have been no conversations.
"I’d just like to be really categorical about it: Williams is not for sale. I have no intention of putting Williams up for sale. I don’t see why we would.
"I think certainly in times like this, that the team is going through at the moment, these rumours always come up, but with a business head on, when you’re team isn’t doing well selling at this juncture wouldn’t be the right time to do so. I think you would only investigate that opportunity if you are doing well. That’s the right time to sell.
"But 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 is not on the market. I don’t want to sell it to everybody. I want to go out and prove that we can do what we are in this sport to do – and that’s to get back on the podium and to win races again."
