Tributes from across motorsport have been paid after the death of Sir Frank, who founded the race team in 1977 and had 735 race starts, going on to win seven drivers’ titles and nine constructors’ championships.

The team took its first grand prix victory in 1979 and under Sir Frank’s leadership as founder and team principal, was a dominant force in the 1980s and 1990s.

Its last race was the Italian Grand Prix on September 6, 2020. Williams was then sold to US investment business Dorilton Capital for about $A300 million. Dorilton has kept the staff, UK location and race team members.

The Guardian newspaper said the business came from inauspicious beginnings in a warehouse – in the English town of Didcot near Oxford – that was fired by Sir Frank’s fierce determination to compete and be victorious.

The Williams team was one of the most successful in F1 history and its list of driver champions reads as a roll of honour, including Australian Alan Jones who secured the team’s first title in 1980.

Other drivers including Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve also took championships for Williams.

Alongside his co-founder and designer, Patrick Head, Sir Frank built a team that competed at the very top of the sport for decades, overcoming the might of longstanding rivals such as Ferrari.

Sir Frank also overcame great personal tragedy when he was paralysed from the neck down after a car accident in 1986. Confined to a wheelchair, he went on to lead his team with the same steely tenacity that characterised his whole career.

The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton summed up the respect and admiration many felt for Williams. “Sir Frank Williams was one of the kindest people I had the pleasure of meeting in this sport,” he wrote on Twitter.

“What he achieved is something truly special. Until his last days I know he remained a racer and a fighter at heart. His legacy will live on forever.”

The Guardian said that Sir Frank devoted his life to F1, becoming the longest-serving team principal in the sport’s history. His daughter Claire took over day-to-day running of the team in 2013.

Sir Frank also endured the deaths of close friend and driver Piers Courage in 1970 and in 1994 that of Ayton Senna while driving a Williams at Imola. He was profoundly saddened by both events.

The Williams team also endured harder times in recent years, fighting at the back of the grid.

Three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart acknowledged how important a role Williams had played in the industry: “We will miss him always. He was a great man for British motor sport and always did the right thing,” he said. “A great man and a very good team owner. I raced against him from time to time and he was a competitor of the highest level.”

By Neil Dowling