Dodgy Business

It was off to the RAC Club in Pall Mall last week, for a chance to talk to Frank Williams, Patrick Head, Sam Michael, Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Hulkenberg ahead of the new season.

For Frank, it's now 40 years since Frank Williams Racing Cars Ltd embarked on that first real serious season of F2 with a Brabham BT23C run for Piers Courage from FW's first premises in Bath Road, Slough.

It was busy in '68 as Frank also maintained customer Lolas for wealthy Spaniards Alex Soler-Roig and Price Jorge de Bagration. Predictably, they were known throughout the workshop as Solenoid and Buggeration.

Frank also fielded a Brabham for a certain Max Mosley in selected F2 races that year. For the record, the FIA president was 10th in heat two of the Holts Trophy at Crystal Palace, crashed in the Rhine Cup at Hockenheim, finished eighth in the Monza lottery, was 10th in heat 2 of the Zandvoort F2 GP before crashing in the final, and finished 14th on aggregate in the Rome GP at Vallelunga.

You'd think that after knowing a bloke for 40 years, Frank, 66 this year, would not be too worried to speak his mind nor overly worried what anybody thought. But he wasn't keen to be drawn on F1 politics.

Piers Courage (Frank Williams Racing/Brabham BT26A Ford) 1969 Spanish Grand Prix, Monjuich Park © LAT

Nothing was forthcoming on the McLaren fine despite Frank and Ron Dennis having been mates and rivals almost throughout Frank's time in the sport. All he would say was that, as a team owner, he could tell us with certainty that $100 million would hurt. Anyone. Even McLaren Mercedes.

More pertinent to Williams' own situation was the customer car problem which, after a meeting at Interlagos last year, looks like going away. Williams, reasonably enough, was upset at signing up to something until 2012 and then finding the goalposts shifting significantly.

"We have nothing against David Richards or Prodrive," Head says, "but it looked like they were going to be running a McLaren with Mercedes engines from McLaren's old premises in Woking, and with the support of a considerable amount of McLaren staff.

"And therefore, as a result of a comparatively small investment on their part, we were realistically going to be moved another two places back down the grid."

With all the attendant implications of that, and more of the same, you have to conclude that while it would have been nice to have more competitive cars at the sharp end, a constructor-based F1 is probably best for the sport's future with budgetary restraint achieved via other methods.

Frank has learned over time that the FIA president, as well as being fiercely intelligent, is a man it is better not to upset. Fifteen years ago, Frank had done a good bit of business when, very early, he signed Alain Prost for 1993 when the Frenchman had been dismissed by Ferrari in '91 for labelling its car a big red lorry.

Alain had been forced to take a sabbatical in '92 while waiting for his Willys seat and said some uncomplimentary things about the governing body while commentating for French TV, as well as in Auto Plus and Le Figaro.

On January 21 that year, just weeks before the start of the season, in a lengthy seven-point letter, the FIA president systematically took apart Prost's observations and concluded by saying, "Frank, we really have to ask ourselves if the best interests of Formula 1 and the FIA World Championship are served by allowing a man like this to participate..."

It went on: "You know that I support free speech and believe everyone should be at liberty to express an opinion even if they don't know the facts or understand the subject..." Ouch.

"Certainly," Mosley went on, "Prost should be free to express an opinion, but I question whether we should give weight an authority to his attacks by making him, again, a top driver."

Alain Prost (Williams FW15C Renault) 1993 European Grand Prix, Donington Park © LAT

At the time Prost did not have a current F1 Super Licence - he didn't need one for commentating, cycling or sunbathing - and Mosley concluded with: "If he held a Super Licence there would, I think, be a strong case for the World Council taking it away under Article 151 of the International Sporting Code (the disrepute clause). As he does not, it might be better not to give him one..."

In the end the situation was defused when Prost appeared in front of FISA and satisfied Mosley that he'd been misquoted. He was duly permitted to roar off to his fourth world title while Frank no doubt made a mental note that it really wasn't worth the hassle of upsetting Max.

As a fresh-faced Nakajima, polite and charming, spoke of the excitement at his first season in F1, you couldn't help wonder whether Frank had learned another lesson.

Back in 1986, Frank had the life-changing car accident that left him in a wheelchair and, it seems, engine supplier Honda worried that Williams could run as before without a replacement for Frank being appointed.

They were also unimpressed when Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were permitted to battle out the world championship, allowing Alain Prost to nick it for McLaren-TAG Porsche at the last race.

At the start of the '87 season Frank got wind that Honda, who were also supplying Lotus and Ayrton Senna, were thinking about ditching Williams and following Ayrton to McLaren, which is what happened.

Williams could perhaps have averted the situation by dropping either Piquet or Mansell and putting Satoru Nakajima in the second car. But they wouldn't have it and Nakajima instead partnered Senna at Lotus. The resultant 1988 year with a Judd V8 almost brought Williams to its knees.

"And hence," you asked, "Kazuki in an ironically Toyota-powered Williams 20 years on?"

Frank smiled. "Well, they haven't sent us a wedge of cash yet! But no, seriously, we rate Kazuki highly. He's quick and he's there on merit."

Nakajima's performance at Interlagos seemed to support that, and if he's anything like his father in the wet, the first rain-soaked GP without traction control might be interesting!

"I do actually like driving in the rain," Kazuki says. "But I don't know whether I'll be as strong as my Dad. In fact, with him, I think he was probably better all round than he showed. He was quite small and in his day there was no power steering and the cars were heavier and had a lot of horsepower with the turbos, particularly in qualifying. I think he found that difficult and it didn't really apply in the wet."

Rosberg, too, is looking forward to the new season although he dismisses 2008 as an opportunity for Williams to return to the winners' circle. The team has looked good in winter testing, he confirms, but not good enough to challenge Ferrari or McLaren.

Kazuki Nakajima, Nico Rosberg. and the Williams FW30 Toyota © Williams F1

"Next season will be interesting because of the rule changes and the fact that we will all have a clean sheet of paper," he says, "but I think we have to be realistic about this year."

Head seconds that. He has been impressed by the Ferrari/McLaren pace and also by some of the BMW testing which, he suspects, has been done with comparatively heavy fuel loads. Jarno Trulli's Barcelona time in the Toyota also raised an eyebrow or two up and down the pit lane and left more than a few hoping that the TF108 hadn't been carrying much ballast.

"It looks very tight behind Ferrari and McLaren," Patrick says. "If you get your weekend spot-on, you might be on row three or four but, if you don't, it will be row six or seven."

Rosberg was not going to be drawn on whether he had decided it was shrewd to stay at Williams rather than go head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren because, apparently, the offer was there.

"It's nice to be well-regarded and I had options," Nico admits, "but I never seriously considered any of them because I am under contract to Williams and I knew that Frank wasn't going to sell me."

People talk about Hamilton as the next Senna. And a man as shrewd as Keke Rosberg will have taken note of what happened when Mario Andretti, a man with almost unparalleled experience, allowed his son to go head-to-head with Ayrton at McLaren.

Michael Andretti never drove in F1 again and, who knows, if the offer was indeed there for Nico, Keke might well have seen it as a risk that didn't need to be taken before his son had made some serious money out of the sport.

That's speculation. What is certain is that having a racing father brings both opportunity and additional pressure. I asked Nico about that Williams test he did alongside new Renault driver Nelson Piquet as a 17-year-old five years ago.

"Just terrible. Awful!" he smiled. "I was there with my Dad and Nelson was there with his. I've got to say, my Dad was quite good in that he didn't actually come into the garage. He was sat somewhere in the grandstand, timing every lap. Nelson Sr, though, was actually in the pit, right in the middle of it, massaging Nelsinho's shoulders while he was trying to talk to the mechanics.

"It was a weird situation. Afterwards, my Dad was ecstatic because I was quicker than Nelson. But I was saying, Dad, that doesn't matter. I wasn't quick enough. As far as I was concerned there was a test drive up for grabs, I wanted it and I didn't get it. That's all that mattered, not Nelson."

Looking back on it, Sam Michael gives a wry smile. "I'm not going to give away the details," he said, "but they both did a decent job given their age and experience. On reflection they were both a bit too young to be considered for a full-time test role. Both needed more seat time. But it's come right for them, hasn't it?"

And let's hope it does for Williams too. Like Newcastle United under Kevin Keegan (first time round!) they are probably everyone's second-favourite team, no matter where your loyalties lie. Long may it remain so.