Bluray review: Williams

It’s been awhile since I last reviewed an F1-related film. At first glance you could be mistaken for thinking that BBC Films’ 2016 “Williams” is just another sports documentary about the inner workings of a F1 team with a long history. After watching it, the film is really an eye opening warts & all look at Sir Frank Williams and his family – his wife Virginia and tensions between his children. The Formula 1 stuff is just to give context to his journey.

Like recent F1 biopic films (e.g. McLaren), parts of this film feature re-enactments to add to movie like drama – interviews with Ginny Williams and Frank’s accident. In fact, this film is really more about how Virginia Williams always had Frank Williams’ back and was the team’s silent saviour – financially supporting the Williams team in the early struggle years, keeping the family running and nursing Frank back from the edge of death.

Prior to this, the Duke video on Frank Williams was probably the single documentary with the most archival footage. Quite a bit of the BBC footage of Frank’s early garagista days also re-appears in this film. Interviews with a number of key Williams personnel are featured – Patrick Head, Frank Durney, Peter Windsor and drivers Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Howard Ganley.

For F1 purists, there really is limited race footage here that hasn’t already been seen. It’s the behind the scenes family interviews that are incredibly personal and revealing. Most F1 fans probably don’t appreciate the team politics also seeps into the family structure.

The film’s focus really is on the early years of the team, the transformation to success in the late 70’s with Head/Williams/Jones combination, 1985 & 1986 seasons with Frank’s accident and the feud with Piquet & Mansell, to the modern team run by Frank’s daughter Claire. Other than 5sec shot of Jacques Villeneuve with Frank, you could be forgiven that the Hill, Villeneuve years and the 2000’s with Montoya, Ralf, Webber, etc. were not worth bothering to mention.

Given this film was made during the 2016 season when Massa and Bottas were challenging the works Mercedes team, much of the film’s insight into the current Claire Williams’ run team must be feel even more painful with the team’s below expectation performances this season. Perhaps Lance Stroll’s podium in Azherbaijan last year would have been a more upbeat moment to end the film…

In a funny way, the themes in this film have a similar feel to “The Theory of Everything” about Stephen Hawking. Respect to Sir Frank for his single minded competitive streak – hope he gets to see another victory (or even championship). Williams Honda anytime soon??…