Brown: Williams turnaround will require 'a lot of money'

McLaren boss Zak Brown says Williams' investors will need "to get their chequebook out" to execute a turnaround like the one enjoyed by the Woking-based outfit in recent years.

Williams underwent a change of ownership last summer, with the founding family selling its stake in the company to US investment firm Dorilton Capital.

The fresh influx of capital has steered Williams clear of financial adversity, at least in the near term.

But pulling the Grove squad out of the dismal sporting slump in which it has been stuck for several years will require significant investment according to Brown who has overseen McLaren's own turnaround in the past three years.

"They’re a great racing team," Brown said, quoted by Motorsport.com. "They’re going to need to invest, the new investors, a lot of money.

"They are behind in revenue from finishing 10th in the championship, and doesn't appear to have much sponsorship.

"They have the people, the know-how, the skill. They just need the resources which they’ve lacked.

"So it will take some time, but I think they’ve made a big step for this year. While they’re yet to score a point, they’ve certainly been in a position to a couple of times."

• Read also: Williams open to collaboration but not tempted by B-team status

While additional capital will pull Williams up the grid, Brown believes that F1's third most successful team in history, behind Ferrari and McLaren, is currently worse off in terms of revenue than McLaren was when it initiated its overhaul.

"There’s no reason why they can’t, but they’ll need to continue to invest in the team, because it looks to me that they don’t have the same level of revenue that we had," commented the American.

"As we know in Formula 1, it takes money to go fast, so they just need to continue to get their chequebook out."

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