Williams is one of the most iconic names in motorsport having been one of the view privateer teams to achieve success over the works outfits.
Frank Williams started his first team in 1970 but after he was forced to sell it due to mounting costs, it was not until the 1976 season that the Briton formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering with Patrick Head.
Head had already worked with Williams during his first team as an engineer and left after becoming disillusioned by the whole venture. When it came to persuading him to join him with the new outfit in 1977, Williams interviewed Head for the job at his family home.
Discussing what was said between the pair on the latest Autosport podcast, Jonathan Williams, son of Frank Williams, provided some behind-the-scenes insight into what was said during the meeting which left his father stunned.
Frank Williams was left stunned by what Patrick Head said when accepting the second Williams job
Williams reformed his team alongside Head, with the latter taking a thirty per cent equity in the company, in 1977 and the team joined the grid with a customer March chassis fielding Patrick Neve.
Discussing what happened at the interview, Williams’ son recalled a rather funny moment that occurred when Head accepted the role.
“My mother has some interesting recollections of when Patrick came to the little cottage we had for a job interview. My mother said first of all your father looked at him and said “Are you prepared to work seven days a week, 365 days a year?’” recalled Williams.
“My father was taken aback because as you can expect the answer was a firm and direct ‘No!’ and then there is a follow-up because anyone who has to do that is just ‘plainly disorganised’ and I’ve learned a lot from that. Then at the conclusion my father essentially said to him ‘So Patrick, what do you think?’ and I think the phrase he used as his acceptance was ‘Well, faint heart never f——- a pig!’ and that was essentially how Patrick jumped into Williams.”
Patrick Head and Frank Williams become formidable owners
The pair would go on to be one of F1’s most formidable team owners, with Head taking control of the technical side while Williams dealt with the business.
“That was always one of the great strengths of the partnership. People would say when one of them is criticised they aren’t too bothered, but the other will immediately leap to their defence,” said Williams.
“You’d have Patrick chasing various media chasing media around if they said something bad about Dad. I think they complimented each other very well.”
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship
Head’s 1979 car, the FW07, achieved its first race win with Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni at the British Grand Prix, with four more victories following in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, and Canada with Alan Jones.
Williams would finish second in the Constructors’ Championship, before winning their first in 1980 with Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann, kickstarting their golden years between the 1980s and later 1990s.
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