Although the majority of battles in Formula 1 take place on the track, it’s not uncommon for teams to be fighting away from the grid as well.
Ultimately, Formula 1 teams need to raise a huge amount of money to fund their racing, with Mercedes’ partnership with Adidas the latest sponsorship deal to raise eyebrows with fans.
Certain sponsors are synonymous with certain teams on the grid, such as Shell with Ferrari and Vodafone’s old deal with McLaren.
These deals are worth millions but the exposure that these companies receive globally is almost unmatched.
While these brands fight for the best spot on a team’s car or driver’s overalls, constructors also have to negotiate the best possible deal with companies that would be desirable to be associated with.
Claire Williams was named deputy team principal of Williams in 2013 but was the de facto leader of the team alongside her father Sir Frank Williams until stepping down in 2020 when the manufacturer was bought.
She was speaking on What it Takes with Olly Fawcett Podcast about how she managed to secure the iconic Martini sponsorship for Williams.
Williams admitted that Ferrari were ‘livid’ with her and sent a cruel message they lived to regret at the end of that season.
Claire Williams says Ferrari were ‘livid’ with her after stealing Martini sponsorship
Williams was asked about the Martini sponsorship and explained: “I was really proud of getting that deal because as you said, they were about to sign with Ferrari and Ferrari were doing really well.
“But I think they wanted more than Ferrari were prepared to offer them.
“You know, the Ferrari livery is the Ferrari livery and you don’t really mess with it but at Williams, we were looking for a title, so we were about to offer them the full livery.
“So, we sold them the kind of dream of, ‘Hey, why don’t you bring back the incredibly iconic Martini stripes and plaster them all over our car, won’t it look great?’
READ MORE: Claire Williams shares why she finds Drive to Survive appearances ‘tough’
“And I think anyone who knows what our car looked like in 2014, it did look pretty good, we just looked the bee’s knees I loved it.
“But yeah, Ferrari were livid that we obviously stole that sponsorship from them and I think they wrote them a note, the decision-makers, whoever it was at Ferrari at the time, that said, we’ll see you in our rear view mirrors this year now you’re sponsoring Williams.
“And obviously when we beat Ferrari that year in the constructors’, there was a little piece of me that was like, yeah, not just beating Ferrari but stealing their title sponsor as well.”
Williams still recovering from difficult spell before Claire Williams’ time as deputy team principal
When Claire Williams took over in 2013, Williams had finished ninth, eighth and ninth in the constructors’ championship.
Williams loved working with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa and they helped lift the team up to third in 2014 with the help of the powerful Mercedes power units.
They matched that result the following year before results started to drop off.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
By 2018, Williams were once again finishing last in the constructors’ standings and scored one point in two years between 2019 and 2020.
Robert Kubica admitted returning to Williams was a mistake such was their struggles at that time.
Things have improved since then, although Williams still only managed to finish ninth in the championship in 2024.
James Vowles is confident Carlos Sainz can help Williams this year and alongside Alex Albon, they have a very strong partnership, but they still need the right car underneath them to be able to deliver results.
