The Thanksgiving memorial service at Westminster Cathedral has been scheduled for the day after the 2022 Formula 1 British Grand Prix race to bring together as many drivers as possible. More than 600 people attended the event, including many former members of the world’s most exclusive grid who belonged to the Williams team, such as Nigel Mansell or Damon Hill, both champions with the Grove team, Jenson Button, Valtteri Bottas, Nick Heidfeld, Martin Brundle, Antonio Pizzonia or Jonathan Palmer , although Mika Hakkinen, the team’s tough rival in his time at McLaren, did not want to miss out either.
The Formula 1 organization had Stefano Domenicali at the head of the representation, in addition to Ross Brawn , who began his career in the category with the Wolf-Williams team in 1976.
Among the current and past bosses of the paddock were names like Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, David Richards, Christian Horner, Andreas Seidl, Otmar Szafnauer or Jost Capito, the current director of Williams.
There were also dozens of workers who are on the staff of the British team, and others who marked a before and after in Formula 1, such as Sir Patrick Head or Adrian Newey , did not miss it.
The Farnborough designer and co-founder of the set in 1977, expressed a few words to praise the performance of Sir Frank Williams , although he acknowledged that the beloved and always remembered director “would have hated it”, for which he went on to pronounce his thanks.
He recalled that he had left motor racing to build a boat when contacted by Williams in 1976 , and drove a Renault 4 to their first meeting with him in a London hotel, where he was offered the job which he accepted shortly after in a deal. that lasted four decades.
Head said that Williams “was like Tigger to those who had read Winnie the Pooh, full of energy but not always well directed”, adding that “he was infectious and got the whole team excited”.
The English concluded affirming that “wherever his spirit is, I hope he continues to hear the sound of racing engines at the limit”. Frank’s brother-in-law, Jamie Berry , also read a brief on behalf of the family, noting the importance of the help of his late sister, Ginny , both in the creation of the team and in the aftermath of the 1986 car accident. that left the protagonist of the day in a wheelchair.
Ron Dennis , former McLaren boss, also spoke, while journalist and former Williams member Peter Windsor read John Keats’s To Autumn , one of Frank’s favorite poems.
Following the ceremony, guests gathered at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, where Clay Regazzoni ‘s FW07 , which took the team’s first Formula 1 win at Silverstone in 1979, was presiding.
