THIS IS CLAIRE WILLIAMS
On the outskirts of Ascot, on the Berkshire border, Claire Williams is putting her 19-month old son down for an afternoon nap. She descends the staircase and places a finger to her lips to indicate hushed tones while Nate drifts off. We’ve been invited to her home for a snapshot of domesticity before the madness of Formula 1 resumes. It’s a chance to glean perspective on the demands of a working mum who is also the deputy team principal of a Formula 1 team.
We’re welcomed into this bright home by her husband Marc Harris, recently tasked with establishing a bespoke young driver programme for Williams, which has Formula 2 title contender Nicholas Latifi and Jamie Chadwick – a race winner in the nascent all-female W Series – already on its books.
As we chat over coffee (while mindful of not spilling a drop on the immaculate white sofas) ahead of the serious discussion about her life growing up as Sir Frank Williams’s daughter and the current plight of the team, we talk TV shows. Claire is a self-confessed fan of boxsets, gameshows and sitcoms.
“When we were young we always used to sit around the TV together and watch Coronation Street as a family,” she says. “Although Dad didn’t. The only show he would watch was Dynasty. He loved it.”
It’s perhaps apt that she has taken over the family’s business of running a Formula 1 team and does so while balancing bringing up the next generation. Nate will often accompany Claire to races, although, as she explains, that wasn’t the way her father did things…
When you were growing up, you didn’t
