Williams co-founder Patrick Head believes his former team is being put back on its rails thanks to the right blend of good leadership, determination and funding.
After finishing on the podium of the Constructors' championship in 2014 and 2015, Williams suffered a progressive downturn that pushed the Grove-based outfit to the bottom of the field where it remained for three consecutive seasons.
But last summer, the Williams family's decision to sell the team to US investment firm Dorilton Capital spawned a new dawn for Formula 1's third most successful team.
Head – speaking on the latest Beyond the Grid F1 podcast – says that he feels confident that the new management team in place at Grove, led by former Volkswagen motorsport boss Jost Capito, is steering Williams in the right direction.
"Having been involved with Williams for whatever it was, 35/40 years, many of which we were winning races... I have to say not every year that I was involved were we winners, but for the majority. So it’s been a little sad over the last 10 years to see them performing quite weakly, so I’m very pleased to see them coming back," Head said.
"And I think Jost and the people he’s brought in… they have some very good people there who have been there for some time, but they needed better leadership at the top and I think they’ve got that now."
Williams double points finish in Hungary earlier this month propelled the team up to eighth in the Constructors' standings, its highest position since 2017.
Head was obviously happy with the sudden surge in points even if the team owed its result to a fortunate set of circumstances at the Hungaroring.
"They were obviously assisted by that front-end, first corner accident, so they’re not really there yet on merit," commented the 75-year-old engineer.
"They’ve got a little bit of a way to go before they’re there. But I think the people in place are good, the determination is good, I don’t know very much about the funding myself but I understand that is in place."
In early 2019, in a bid to help Williams extricate itself from the doldrums, Head accepted a temporary consultancy role with the beleaguered British outfit.
The legendary designer says he still keeps on distant eye on his former team, but no longer has any involvement of any sort although he does "keep in touch" with Williams CEO Capito.
"I don’t spend an awful lot of time [following F1], but I am in touch with Jost Capito who I have known for some time," said Head.
"I don’t have any idea that I ring them up and advise them how to develop the car or anything like that, but I am in touch."
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