Claire Williams says adversity has made her stronger and is confident next season will be a turning point for the F1 team

For two seasons now Claire Williams, the deputy principal of the team created by her father, has endured a series of punishing and public failures. As she weathers this storm and attempts to restore Williams to a respectable midfield position, there is an almost confrontational air to her determination. This lady, the most prominent women in any Formula One team, is not for turning.

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Sir Frank remains the team principal and the connection with his deputy, who has run the team since 2013, is unique in F1. He is a notoriously demanding, competitive man and how the relationship with his daughter stands has been a question Williams has had to field repeatedly during a gruelling season that reaches its penultimate meeting in Brazil on Sunday.

“People ask me: ‘How does your dad feel about the situation?’ As if I am going to say: ‘Well he’s thrashing me every day … He’s not,” she says with a wry smile. “He understands that F1 is hard work, it’s tough.”

Frank Williams formed his team, alongside Patrick Head in 1977, and led it to a remarkable nine F1 constructor’s titles and seven drivers’ championships between 1980 and 1997. Williams has endured for 42 years and is behind only McLaren and Ferrari in race entries but have been in pretty much a steady decline since 2004.

Last season was the worst in their history. They were woefully off the pace and finished last in the constructors’ championship. This year has been even worse. Their car unfinished, they arrived two days late to testing. When racing began it became clear the car suffered from a lack of downforce and stability and was at least 1.5 seconds a lap behind the midfield. They are last again with only one point.

“It has been a brutal year for me, it has been a brutal year for everybody,” Williams says. “We have all had our challenges going through this but I have always said the true test of character is how you react in difficult situations. That you don’t give up when the road gets rocky, you keep fighting. That’s one of the greatest lessons my dad taught me. He didn’t have easy racing and easy rides.”

Describing this season as brutal is perhaps an understatement. Shortly after testing, the technical director Paddy Lowe went on a leave of absence and formally stood down in June but as driver Robert Kubica has pointed out the problems at Williams went beyond one man.

A comprehensive three-month review took place after testing and Williams admits it revealed fundamental flaws with planning, design and manufacturing in the team that had to be addressed. “The changes we have made have been a lot more significant than any we have made previously,” Williams says. “We have made big changes to operations, we have a new planning department, we have a great technical management team running aero design and also trackside.”

Williams insists she is happier now than at this point in 2018. “Last year was the worst year. I understand why people would see this year as worse but they can’t see behind the scenes. Last year I could not see how things would get better imminently. This year Williams is in a different place entirely. I know what is coming and I believe in it. Last year I didn’t really believe in it.”

There is an indication that long-term goals are feasible. In 2018 the team brought in the engineer Doug McKiernan from McLaren. He began the process of transforming the philosophy and working methods of their aero department, a procedure Williams describes as “taking 10 steps back to take 20 forward”.

Those initial 10 have been very public and very painful. The next 20 she believes are now being made. The aero base is stable, she insists, and data correlates between wind tunnel and track.

“We are in a much better position; all the work we did last year in changing the philosophy around aero has now paid off,” Williams says. This week Britain’s George Russell, who has acquitted himself well in his debut season, was optimistic that the lessons had been learned and that in 2020 the Williams will be an altogether more competitive car.

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She speaks of a “transformation” at Williams and of regret that fans cannot see it at the Grove factory. Such improvements will have been cold comfort but Williams remains convinced the team are on the up. “I am not about to give it up because I believe in what I am doing. I don’t let the noise get in the way,” she says. “I have learned a lot about myself in these two years. I have learned I am stronger than I ever thought I was.”

The atmosphere on the road and at Grove is highly motivated and optimistic, she says. “Dad’s actually more supportive than ever. He has seen a side of me that maybe he didn’t expect I had. It’s not easy, but I have not given up. I am sure a load of people would love me to walk away but I am not going to.

“Dad appreciates that tenacity because he would never have given up. We don’t give up at Williams. It’s not in our nature.”