Williams F1 Announce 28pc Profit Rise for 2010

Formula One team Williams has seen profits for 2010 rise by 28 per cent after what it says was a “solid” financial year accumulating pre-tax profits of £5.8m (US$9.5m) after the cost of investing £1.9m ($3.1m) in energy firm Williams Hybrid Power and the Williams Technology Centre in Qatar.

Team Principal Sir Frank Williams said 2010 had been one of the toughest years for attracting sponsorship and as part of the firm’s plan “to take the business forward”, it listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange in March.

Chairman Adam Parr said its initial public offering and listing had “secured the team’s long-term future by providing a sustainable ownership structure”.

Part of the new Williams’ strategy this spring was to secure a partnership with a leading car manufacturer and last week, plans to build a hybrid supercar in conjunction with Jaguar were announced.

Sir Frank Williams, who remained majority shareholder and team principal despite the stock market launch, stated: “Commercially, 2010 has given Williams a solid foundation from which to grow.”

Williams are one of the most successful teams in F1 history but they have not won a championship since 1997 and last won a grand prix in 2004. In recent years, they have struggled to raise the budget required to compete at the front.

Williams decided to take on the Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado whose presence is linked to a multi-year, multi-million pound sponsorship deal with his country’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

Williams said: “Amidst one of the harshest sponsorship environments for a long time, we signed PDVSA and upgraded and extended existing partners, Randstad and Oris.”