F1 icon Sir Frank Williams left £14.4million in his will to his three children, probate records have revealed.
The founder and former chief of Williams died in November last year aged 79, a year after selling the team for £136million. He founded Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966 after a brief career as a driver and a mechanic. In 1977, he announced the formation of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, which still compete in F1.
He devoted his life to the F1 team and remained the team's principal from its formation until its sale in September 2020. Probate records show that £14,465,456 has been left to his three children after debts and funeral expenses were paid for. His wife Virginia died in 2013.
Under his stewardship Williams dominated F1 in the early 1980s and the 1990s with drivers including Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell amongst those that brought success.
Williams were winners of 16 drivers' and constructors' world championships, before being sold to US investment firm Dorilton Capital in 2020. He was awarded a CBE in 1987 and received a knighthood in 1999 for services to the motor sport Industry.
Williams was involved in a car crash in 1986 which left him relying on a wheelchair for the remainder of his life, but that didn't prevent him from playing a key role in his F1 team.
In 2013 he passed the running of Williams to his daughter Claire who was in the role until the sale of the manufacturer in 2020.
At the time of the sale Claire Williams said: "We have been in this sport for more than four decades. We are incredibly proud of our track record and the legacy we leave behind. We have always been in it for the love of it, for the pure pleasure of going motor racing, so this is not a decision that we have taken lightly but after much reflection and as a family.
"This may be the end of an era for Williams as a family-run team, but it is the beginning of a new era for Williams Racing and we wish them much success in the future."
