Now you’re back at Williams. Frank and Claire and Ginny must have been like family for you, you spent so much time there.
12 seasons with them and then I went back to cover when Silvia (Hoffer-Frangipane, now at McLaren) had a baby and I had to deal with (Juan Pablo) Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, which was good fun. With Frank, if you didn’t make the car go quicker, you weren’t that important, but we got on well.
I’d known Frank since my BRSCC days. I used to get his entries for F3 racing. At the end of every racing day it was shorts on and run round the track, well before everyone started doing it. And he was always off in between races doing deals. The difference after his accident was that people had to go to Frank and they had such respect for him.
I used to stand there and read the other teams’ press releases and tell him what was going on in the paddock. He’s like a sponge. He always wanted to know those things and obviously he had to rely on other people to tell him after the accident. He never ever lost his love for his team and his sport. Never once felt sorry for himself.
A journalist once said to him, “Mr Williams, do you ever go on holiday?” Frank said, “I’d rather be here than six feet under and this is where I want to be - in the paddock with my team and that’s a holiday for me.” That team’s kept him going through all the trials and tribulations.
You ended up working with BMW after meeting them at Williams in 2001?
I started in the European World Touring Car Championship. Then, when they did Formula BMW, I was asked to go and do the PR for that in 2004, just for the UK series. I did that for a couple of years but then when they came into Formula 1, they asked if I’d go and join them, which is how I ended up at BMW Sauber. To cut a long story short, I wanted to go back to doing something more than Formula 1. They offered me the Formula BMW Europe job, which was great fun. I worked with lots of the youngsters such as (Felipe) Nasr and (Daniil) Kyvat and (Carlos) Sainz.
And Sebastian Vettel.
I got to know him mainly through when I was in F1.
What was he like?
He was very friendly. He loves English and the English way of life. His partner’s mother is English so he was introduced to English humour. He loved Monty Python. He loves The Beatles and he bought my signed Beatles album off me.
From what you saw of him and the way he comported himself, did you think, “This bloke could be a world champion”?
Yes. He was cool, he was together, he was personable and he was quick. He had every attribute that you would need and he got in the car and he drove. I suppose ‘ruthless’ is the wrong word but then it isn’t. You have to be ruthless in this sport.
Then under those difficult circumstances, when he ended up in the car in Indianapolis, hanging around not knowing until about five o’clock on a Thursday afternoon, when he was told, “by the way, you’re in the car tomorrow”. The way he coped with that weekend, had problems at the start, came through it and scored points, was great.
Through that job, you ended up specialising in PR-ing for baby drivers. Is that something that appealed to you that led to you accepting this offer to work with Stroll, the idea of mentoring a very young driver in his first steps in Formula 1?
He’s starting off and if through my experience in the sport, looking after young drivers in Formula BMW and also world champions in Formula 1, if I can help him to get used to this sport and give him some advice, I thought it would be quite nice in my “twilight” years.
Within five minutes there was all that “He’s only there because of the money” stuff.
I wasn’t surprised. It’s a shame but we’ve got to make sure that they all get to know him as a person, not just a rich man’s son. He really has got his own opinion. He can talk for himself. He’s eloquent, not arrogant. He’s got a few wins behind him if you look at what he did in F3! Despite whatever money he or his father has got, there’s only one person who can drive the car. We just hope that it will calm down and people see him for what he is and what he does on the track. He’s got a good record. You can compare him with Max Verstappen. He’s earned his place there.
And the reason you’re here in Abu Dhabi and we also saw you in Mexico is that you work for Stuart Sykes’ Scotsport agency that teaches new race organisers how to run the media centre and everything related to the press.
I started doing this through Bernie’s office. I was sent to South Africa back in ‘83 so I did South Africa. Then in ‘85, when Australia came along, again, I was recommended and did it there. Stuart and myself did some work in Malaysia. Then we did Indianapolis. I never got involved in Singapore but they did Singapore, Abu Dhabi, India, Austin and Mexico.
It must be a nightmare job because you’re dealing with people who haven’t got a clue at first.
The people we work with, they’re so keen to get it right. That’s perhaps why they bring us in because they think they’d like our expertise. It’s sometimes quite an eye-opener to them but it’s great because we can hold their hand and try and make sure their experience in Formula 1 is a positive one. We’re very proud that we’ve come through and they’ve invited us back and we’re still going to Abu Dhabi and other races however many years on.
