Jones: Criticism of Claire Williams ‘easy pickings and terribly unfair’

Former Williams driver Alan Jones has a word for the critics of Claire Williams, the 1980 F1 world champion insisting that holding the team’s deputy team principal responsible for its current woes is “terribly unfair”.

Williams has been locked in a downward spiral since for the past few seasons, the Grove-based squad scoring just a single point during its 2019 campaign.

Formula 1’s third most successful team behind Ferrari and McLaren has become a pale figure of its former self, and Claire Williams has bared the brunt of the criticism during her team’s fall.

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But Jones offered a staunch defense of the daughter of his former boss, Sir Frank Williams.

“Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon blaming Claire which is terribly unfair,” Jones told The Guardian in Melbourne last week.

“It is easy pickings for them because she is female which is very, very unfair. She is doing a good job and they will come good.”

The 73-year-old Australian F1 legend raced for Williams between 1978 and 1981, contributing 11 wins and a world crown to the team’s legacy of 114 victories, 7 Drivers’ titles and 9 Constructors’ championships.

“For Williams, from being no-ones and I mean that, to being a front-running F1 team is an extraordinary feat,” insisted Jones.