F1: Williams veers off course as it posts £34m loss

Formula 1 team Williams span off the tracks today as its financial results bore the scars of the worst season in its history.

Frankfurt-listed Williams Grand Prix Holdings went £34.3 million into the red for 2014 — reversing a previous £11.9 million profit — after vastly reduced prize money for the 2013 season, which is paid a year in arrears.

The nightmare 2013 for Williams saw the team slump to ninth in the constructors’ championship. Its main drivers Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado picked up just five points between them, finishing 17th and 18th in the drivers’ championship respectively.

The absence of a one-off £20 million payment from a major sponsor — the PDVSA Venezuelan state oil company — made in 2013 also contributed to revenues falling to £90.2 million from £130.4 million in 2014.

Chief executive Mike O’Driscoll said this year’s results were set for improvement after last year’s third place finish in the constructors’ championship and a “thorough overhaul” of the team’s leadership and structure.

On-track results also improved, with Bottas finishing fourth in the drivers’ standings and new driver Felipe Massa finishing seventh. Williams has since brought in seven new recent major sponsors including consumer goods giant Unilever, and stands third so far in this year’s constructors’ championship behind Mercedes and Ferrari.