Claire Victoria Williams (born 21 July 1976) is a British former motorsport executive who was the deputy team principal of the Williams Formula One racing team from 2013 to 2020.

Early life

Claire Williams was born in 1976 in Windsor,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. She is the daughter of

Sir Frank Williams Sir Francis Owen Garbett Williams (16 April 1942 – 28 November 2021) was a British businessman, racing car driver, and the founder of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams Formula One team. He was the team principal from its foundati ...

and Virginia Williams. She graduated from

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

in 1999 with a degree in politics.

Career

After graduation, Williams became a press officer for the

Silverstone racing circuit Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and ...

. In 2002, she joined the Williams F1 team as a communications officer. In 2010, she became the head of communications for the team. In 2011, she was promoted to director of marketing and communications for Williams. When Frank Williams stepped down from the Williams board in March 2012, Claire became the Williams family representative on the board. In March 2013, she was appointed deputy team principal of the Williams F1 racing team. In this role she retained responsibility for marketing, communications and the commercial aspects of the team's business. Williams was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to Formula 1 racing. On 3 September 2020, Williams announced she was resigning as deputy team principal of the Williams team on 7 September 2020 after the

2020 Italian Grand Prix The 2020 Italian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2020) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 6 September 2020 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. The race was the eighth rou ...

. Before the race, at the Williams motorhome, she was given the front wing of a Williams FW36 as a souvenir.

Personal life

On 5 April 2017, Williams announced that she was pregnant with her first child, a boy. She gave birth to her son in October 2017. In January 2018, Williams announced her marriage to Marc Harris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Claire 1976 births Living people Alumni of Newcastle University English motorsport people Formula One team owners Formula One team principals Williams Grand Prix Engineering Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Windsor, Berkshire