Speakers

Claire Williams is the former leader of the Williams Formula 1 racing team. She is the youngest ever DTP in motorsports, one of the most prominent and successful women in Formula 1 history and was awarded an OBE for services to F1 in 2017. A strategic visionary, inspirational leader and motivational expert, her development of a high-performance team culture galvanised an underperforming race team that had been struggling on and off the grid to its best finishing positions in years. Under her leadership, Williams F1 was transformed from an outdated, male-dominated culture into one renowned as a pioneer for innovative technology, sustainability, diversity and inclusion. Having grown up around her father’s racing team, Claire’s career began in the Silverstone press office, before she joined Williams F1 in a comms position. Her capacity for driving modernising change became clear in early commercial roles, during which she revitalised the Williams F1 brand and evolved the marketing strategy. She led from the front to negotiate lucrative, high-profile brand partnerships, notably a £65M deal with Unilever and £50M in sponsorship from Martini. She also played a critical Head of Investor Relations role, leading the motorsports industry’s only successful IPO preparation as Williams exceeded its valuation. When the racing team went through a difficult period, Claire was appointed to take over from her father as de facto leader. As the major shareholder of the PLC, she was effectively chairman of the board, tasked with turning around a demotivated, underperforming group of over 1,000 employees.