The American putting his faith in Williams

When you first make new Williams shareholder Brad Hollinger's acquaintance - as this writer did during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend - you are left in no doubt as to the 60-year-old's brawn, his frame kept trim through many years of "pumping iron".

However, as Brad outlined the rationale behind his purchase of a (admittedly modest) stake in Williams from Toto Wolff, who had acquired a 15 per cent share in the team in two tranches well prior to being offered Mercedes motorsport's top job, it became abundantly clear that brain at least matched physical appearance.

Having graduated from Shippenburg University (PA) as a finance major, the long-time motorsport fanatic from the state of Roger Penske and the Andretti dynasty entered the healthcare industry, eventually establishing a variety of businesses in the sector.

Multi-billion dollar listings provided the wherewithal to found the Hollinger Group, which operates hospitals and clinics across the USA, with projected 2014 revenues of $1bn+.

This success enabled Hollinger to pursue his passion from both the best stands of the house and cockpits of a variety of historic Formula 1 cars. Indeed, it was after he purchased one of Jacques Villeneuve's 1997 title winning Williams FW19s (direct from the driver) that he first came into contact with the team.

When alerted to the fact that Wolff was looking at diluting his holding, Hollinger was not slow in coming forward, immediately purchasing three per cent and upping that to five in September. He holds future options, and thus could ultimately find himself the second-largest individual investor in the team after Sir Frank.

(For the record the approximate current percentage share split is: F Williams 53 / publicly traded 23 / Wolff 10 / Head 9 / Hollinger 5)

It was while buying one of these that Hollinger was encouraged to take a share in the team itself © LAT

"It's highly likely that I will exercise that option sometime in the ensuing months. It has been a very positive experience for me, and hopefully a very positive experience for the team as well," he said last week.

Could a deal be struck before the US GP, being his "home" grand prix? "Unlikely..."

However, clearly Hollinger, also the owner of an ex-Michael Schumacher Benetton B191 and the Jordan-Cosworth with which Giancarlo Fisichella won the engine company's last grand prix in that "crazy race in Brazil 2003", believes firmly in the future of Williams, and, crucially, Formula 1's prospects in the USA.

"I think the timing is right," he says of his investment. "Timing is everything in life, and I believe Williams is strongly on the up. That is obvious to everybody. They've had one of their more difficult runs over the last few years, culminating in last year when they ended ninth in the constructors' championship.

"This year, right now they're in a strong third place, and I see every reason for them to finish third. I think they have a very strong package, two excellent drivers. Valtteri Bottas is a rising star and certainly with the addition of Pat Symonds, Rob Smedley on the technical side, you've got Mike O'Driscoll, who is a very strong corporate guy [as CEO], I think they have all the ingredients to be very successful over the ensuing years. And certainly their relationship with Mercedes hasn't hurt either.

"So from a micro perspective I think the team is in excellent shape and on the upswing. Strongly on the upswing," he repeats.

It is, of course, expected that any investor in whatever sport at whatever level will be extremely bullish about its prospects, but Hollinger is a hugely successful business professional who has put his money where his mouth is. Clearly, then, he holds both passionate and boardroom views.

"From a macro perspective Formula 1 is in a very strong position. I think the racing has been excellent this year. Obviously Mercedes are in a league by themselves, but we have an exciting competition between Lewis [Hamilton] and Nico [Rosberg], which makes the run for one-two pretty exciting every race.

The Mercedes squabbling and Williams making a nuisance of itself - a familiar F1 2014 scene © XPB

"From third place onwards the racing has been really, really strong between Williams, Red Bull, Ferrari and, to a lesser extent, McLaren, which seems to be coming on towards the end of the season. So, from a fan perspective, it's been pretty strong.

"My view is that Formula 1 is poised to really break it wide open in the US. I think [Austin] was a really strong play for the US, and I think that people really like the circuit, which is gaining traction."

While he strongly believes that opportunities exist for an additional race in the Land of the Automobile, he does not identify the latest buzz venue, namely Las Vegas, as the potential site - possibly because, as a businessman, he recognises other factors could be at play.

"I think there's an opportunity to do another race in the US, either in the northeast (New York/Jersey) or in the west, around the LA region, where there's a huge concentration of population," believes Hollinger. "I think that'll be really exciting for Formula 1 and would advance the ball in terms of opening things up.

"I thought the concept of doing something right outside of New York City was brilliant, and made great sense. You have such a massive population base that half the US population could drive there and watch the race. It certainly would make it open and accessible, and the media coverage would be massive. The same with the west coast."

The concept of an all-American team is another positive: "Certainly with [Gene] Haas getting involved in F1, I think he's got all the right ingredients to be successful. He's had an incredibly successful run in NASCAR, and does a lot of manufacturing of special tools for Formula 1, so has knowledge of Formula 1. Hooking their car to Ferrari from a powerplant perspective was likely a pretty exciting moment for them."

Like all entrepreneurs Hollinger, who first watched the Monaco Grand Prix "as a kid and attended every Canadian Grand Prix since 1995 with my son", is equally attuned to the future: "I think F1 has the opportunity to do what NFL has done in the US, which is use social media and various forms of distribution of their product in a big way, not only internationally, but more importantly in the United States as well.

America hasn't had a driver on the F1 grid since Scott Speed in 2007 © LAT

"I think they're right on the cusp of being able to do that and create different packages for fans that they haven't seen here before. So I think we're on the verge of a new explosion in Formula 1. I think there is a big [commercial] upside.

"Right now the commercial interest in Formula 1 in the US has not been all that significant, other than car manufacturers," he continues, now in full enthusiastic swing.

"So I think there's an opportunity for multi-national firms to take a much bigger interest in Formula 1 and gain a stronger foothold."

He points to IT titans such as Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, all of whom he believes are ripe for F1 - and vice versa - adding "I think they're missing the boat. I think they have an opportunity to expand their product offerings and expand their brands' identities in the US as well by leveraging Formula 1 and the F1 brand."

He purchased a slice of Williams after becoming convinced about the "numbers that are so compelling", and believes it is "only a matter of time before the numeric elements fall into place and Formula 1 finally gains a strong foothold in the US."

American business people need to recognise, Hollinger says, what huge multi-national opportunities are offered by F1, not only in the US, but internationally. "They can market their products across the globe, very effectively. There are 19 or 20 different countries a year. If I were in charge, if I really had the opportunity to push even harder it would be, as I said, somewhere in the northeast..."

However, he believes there is another, thus far unidentified element at play: "Let's look at the cultural diversity in the United States. As more and more people move to the US from all over the world, they're bringing with them their hobbies, their sports enthusiasm, and so soccer has gained more of a foothold in the US as a result.

"Formula 1 has to follow suit as well, because these people are accustomed to watching Formula 1, are accustomed to supporting F1 and not so much NASCAR, because they come from other parts of the world. So I think they just inculcate their cultural likes and dislikes into the mainstream in the United States also, and I think that's going to be helpful."

Marco Andretti leads team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay, but they don't have many compatriots among their rivals © LAT

Hollinger also lists the increasingly influential (and affluent) Hispanic population as a factor, which he believes identifies more with F1 than NASCAR. "The universe of the NASCAR fan we know lies at a very specific socio-economic level, whereas I think Formula 1 has the potential to transcend a much bigger bandwidth."

He acknowledges that an American driver would aid matters greatly, but points to IndyCar - of its top 10 2014 points scorers, just two are home grown.

"I'm astounded by it actually. It has gone significantly backwards. Twenty years ago it was almost all American drivers with a few gentlemen from other areas of the world. Now it's completely reversed, it's rare that you have an American driver on the IndyCar circuit."

The reason could be, he suggests, that young sportsmen have a variety of choices, what with NFL, baseball, basketball and such as golf and tennis all offering lucrative domestic careers. Salvation will come, Hollinger feels, with a US team in Haas.

"I think having a US team will create much more buzz and excitement for US drivers to want to get involved in Formula 1. They have not had the advantages that they needed to go over to Europe and get in the lesser races and the lesser circuits to really be successful.

"They have focused much more on NASCAR and/or IndyCar to a lesser extent, and I think now that we're going to have a US-based team they will have another outlet, another venue to say 'Hey, this could be exciting and we could have a career in this'."

To Hollinger it's a two-way street: "I think Formula 1 has to embrace the United States, the pay-off will be exponentially large. It also works the other way. The numbers don't lie; you've seen the statistics: it's the number one-watched sport in the world, and that's without a big bite in social media. The numerics are there, so it's just a function of educating corporations on why it makes sense to invest in Formula 1."

His conclusion is simple: "I think the race in Austin is a giant step forward, but I do think it's the first giant step forward. The fact that Haas is getting involved is also a net positive, and [it is] really exciting to see a US team that really is going to make a go of it in Formula 1 right now.

"I think that will create a lot of energy and a lot of excitement around Formula 1 in the US. But, as I said, those are two first steps. I think that we really need to see another race or two in the United States and I think that they would be incredibly successful. I really do."

Brad Hollinger should know: not only has he made real money in the USA, but invested a portion in F1...