grumpyf1

Patrick Head has finally called it a day and quietly departed from the Williams F1 team to pursue his lifelong ambition of being a pole dancer. Well, one of those facts is correct, anyway. Head has been in F1 longer that I've been unclear as to what the hell it is I am actually doing - and believe me, that's a bloody long time indeed. The somewhat intimidating Head was engineering Robin to Frank Williams' making-the-deals Batman, and the pair of them have racked up brilliant championships with some of the greatest names in F1, including my favourite, Damon Hill. But the team haven't won a race since that surly chap with a penchant for swearing, wild talent AND massive recklessness (not to mention a commendable ability to annoy the hell out of Schumi), Juan Pablo Montoya, was with the team in the mid 90's. Heading for 20 years later at an alarming rate, it's clear that the once great team have lost their way, and have been quietly putting new people in...

If anyone in the Formula 1 world deserves an award, it's Sir Frank Williams. It was satisfying, then, to see him pick up the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year ceremony before Christmas. Clearly, Frank's '86 card accident that left him paralysed has indelibly marked his life, but he has freely admitted that he wrecked numerous cars previously and was driving like a nutter at the time. But what is most remarkable is that he has simply worked around his disability and carried on running one of F1's most successful and popular F1 teams, with a string of World Championships and a list of drivers that many teams can only dream of. But it would be unwise to assume that the frail old man in a wheelchair is weak-minded; Far from it. Whilst the equally tough Patrick Head has engineered top cars, Frank has always been the one making the tough business decisions and wielding the axe with driver contracts in a rigorously unemotional way. Ask Damon ...