Since 2013, Claire Williams has been the team's deputy principal, running the Grove outfit while team founder, Frank Williams continued working behind the scenes.

In the wake of yesterday's announcement that the Williams family is parting company with the outfit after this weekend, there has been much debate on social media, with some blaming the team's poor form of recent years on Claire, while the majority have leapt to her defence.

Speaking at today's press conference, Williams revealed that Dorilton Capital had wanted her to remain as team principal but she felt it best to move on to the next phase in her life and make a clean break.

"There were a lot of rumours swirling around in Spa about my tenure within the team," she said. "Dorilton, I'd like to make it clear, wanted me to stay.

"This was my decision," she continued. "I felt it was the right choice for me to step away.

"There will be a period of transition," she added. "And while this is obviously going to be my last race weekend, I am going to be working a few days per week over the course of the next few weeks in order to hand over, in order to talk to Dorilton about the team, the inner workings of the team, and the expertise they need to come in.

"They're in the business already, they're doing their due diligence, they're reviewing the capabilities, and they're looking at what they can do in order to invest into the business. I will be helping them with that to advise that over the coming weeks."

Ever since it was announced that the team has been sold, observers have remarked that it marks the end of an era, and Williams agrees, admitting that the days of the independent, family teams are gone.

"The world changes," she said, "and the world has changed dramatically over the past, even, handful of years that we've been racing in Formula 1.

"I would like to make the point that I think we have received an awful lot of criticism for some of the decisions that we have taken at Williams over the last handful of years," she continued. "But until you actually see what goes on behind the scenes, particularly operating in the environment that we find ourselves operating in at the moment in this sport, that has become ever-harsher, predominantly courtesy of the last Concorde Agreement, I think our team has done an extraordinary job.

"All the people have worked behind the scenes in order to keep our team alive and keep the fight as an independent team. I'm very proud of that work. It's never something I will regret, having made decisions that ensure we have retained that independence over the last few years."

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