Williams 'playing the long game' in quest to return to F1 summit

Williams team principal Simon Roberts has stated the team is adopting a long-term strategical approach in a bid to return to the front of Formula 1.

Williams has finished bottom of the constructors' championship for the past three years, scoring just eight points from 59 races. Its failure to score a point this past term was a new low for the team.

Despite showing improved pace this year, in particular with George Russell reaching Q2 on Saturday on nine occasions, neither he nor team-mate Nicholas Latifi were able to translate that into a top-10 finish on Sunday.

Roberts, however, is not concerned by such a dismal record this year and believes the team is correct to "play the long game".

"Really this year was part of a long-term strategy, I always say, and that will build slowly over the next five years," said Roberts.

"The main thing is, we want to invest wisely, we don’t want to make mistakes and we want to play the long game and that’s what we’re doing."

The sale of Williams to American investment company Dorilton Capital has provided a much-needed cash injection.

Roberts, however, has confirmed will not allow the team to stray too far from the path envisaged by former deputy team principal Claire Williams.

"From the cultural fit, with the team, there’s a lot of synergy between the road map that Claire had laid out and we’re staying very true to that," Roberts continued.

"We want to be a great place to work. We want to make sure we’re caring and kind to all the people who work for us and we want to just do all the right things.

"In terms of the technology though, we now have the opportunity to invest and that’s what we’re doing. That’s started already."

Offering hope to long-suffering fans of the team, he added: "There’s not much impact of that on the car we’re racing on now but we will start to see that next year."

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