Williams Accepts Mistake, Defends Team Manager

Williams made a mistake at Sunday's Belgian Formula One Grand Prix but nobody should be singled out for blame, according to team boss Frank Williams.

"The team recognises that a very difficult decision was made which didn't work," he told Reuters when asked about Ralf Schumacher's car being left raised on jacks at the start of a formation lap. He staunchly defended experienced team manager Dickie Stanford from media criticism.

The incident was described by the German newspaper Bild on Tuesday as the "blunder of the year", with Ralf also appearing to blame Stanford.

"This time he over-reacted. I think we had enough time to prevent such a blunder," World Champion Michael's younger brother was quoted as saying. Williams, whose team won nine Constructors' titles and seven drivers' crowns between 1980 and 1997 and have won three races this year, said Stanford was renowned for his loyalty and sheer hard work.

"I have the highest regard for Dickie," said Williams of the man who joined his team in 1985 and worked as Nigel Mansell's mechanic before becoming team manager in 1995. "He took a lot of the flak and he didn't deserve it."

Confusion

The incident with Ralf's car occurred after the race had been stopped because of Brazilian Luciano Burti's huge crash into the tyre barriers in his Prost. Race organisers announced a time for a re-start but there was considerable confusion as track officials hurried to repair the damaged tyre wall and guardrail.

The Williams mechanics, allowed to stay on the grid until 15 seconds before the start of the formation lap, appeared to have run out of time in their attempts to adjust Ralf's rear wing beam. But mechanics can lower and remove a jack in less than a second and photographic evidence from Sunday's race suggested they could have stayed longer and finished the job without penalty.

Britain's weekly Motorsport News printed a picture on Wednesday of Ralf's BMW-powered Williams jacked up, with other cars setting off and mechanics still clustered around an Arrows at the rear. That team incurred no sanction, however.

Williams said what happened to his team on the grid was minor in the overall scheme of things, with Burti's crash a testament to recent efforts to improve safety since the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994.

"The most important event of the weekend was Luciano's survival," he said. "Looking at the car on the lorry as it came back, it looked as if the corners had snapped off."

Brazilian triple World Champion Senna was driving a Williams when he crashed at the San Marino Grand Prix