The Business F1 Magazine reports that Williams has recently sold its Headquarters based in Grove for a sum of $280,000,000. Post this sale, the British racing icons hope to forge a ‘Haas-Ferrari‘-esque relationship with their suppliers, Mercedes.
Back in 2021, the American team shifted its factory base within the sprawling Ferrari campus at Maranello. This move has since then been declared as legal by the governing body of Formula 1: the FIA.
⚠️ | For 2022, Haas F1 Team will utilise the maximum technical support from Ferrari made permissible by the regulations.
A “Customer Technical Office” has even been created in Maranello, to serve Haas directly as a supplier.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 3, 2022
These reports of Williams pushing for a move like Haas did holds some water in the context of recent developments at Brackley. Mercedes’ headquarters sees a $100,000,000 revamp. This may be done to accommodate Williams shifting base.
The report suggests that Mercedes overhauling their campus could mean them making space for the iconic British team getting closer to their suppliers. This move by Williams comes hot on the heels of them seeing a massive upturn in fiscal fortunes and revenue. Naturally, a systematic investment strategy towards long-term goals is the way both the teams want to play this game.
Are Williams on the path to greatness once again?
The current minnows of the sport, Williams have seen a sharp upturn in their fortunes. Back in 2019-2020, the Grove-based team were on the verge of bankruptcy, however, in 2023 they reported a meteoric $55,831,350 rise in their profits.
Despite this stark improvement, Williams don’t want to push towards the front of the field all on their own. Having a strategic and technical partnership with Mercedes, they want to take it one step forward. Now, they seek basic accommodation alongside the turbo-hybrid era champions.
When you see these stats for Williams (White), and today’s news, it’s truly saddening, seeing how 2 cars crippled and drove an F1 great to the sad state it is in today. #WilliamsF1 #RokitWilliamsRacing #WilliamsRacing #Formula1 #F1 #F1Stats #F12020 #FW42 #FW41 #FW43 #Rokit #RWR pic.twitter.com/n5btPJxLNm
— Ray 🇸🇬 | (@everraydy_msprt) May 29, 2020
In a way, this could stunt their growth as an independent constructor. Even though on the face of it, both, Williams and Mercedes are ‘partners‘, on the track they are rivals. Needless to say, if Mercedes accommodate them within their campus, there will be certain restrictions imposed that will have a visible effect on their competitiveness on track. The team were once arguably the most dominant sides in F1. Now, they might just slip into the shadow of Mercedes with this move.
Be that as it may, this ‘B-team‘ concept isn’t alien to Formula 1. According to the Business F1 report, Red Bull and AlphaTauri are slowing inching towards a similar agreement which would see the Faenza-based team be absorbed completely by the Milton-Keynes-based outfit.
