Claire Williams has taken aim at accusations from within Formula One’s male-dominated world that becoming a mother has contributed to her team’s decline.
In a powerful and candid interview ahead of the new season, the de facto boss of one of the sport’s most successful teams, hinted at an undercurrent of sexism in the sport.
She claimed online abuse she was subjected to following Williams’ worst ever season could have destroyed her.
The 43-year-old assumed the day-to-day running of her father Sir Frank Williams’ team in 2013, overseeing an impressive third-placed constructors’ finish the following season.
She gave birth to her first child, Nate, in October 2017.
Last year, Williams finished rooted to the foot of the table having scored just one point.
“As soon as you are not successful, some people put that down to the fact I am a woman,” Williams told the PA news agency.
“They maybe give me a rougher time because I am a woman.
“I have actually had someone say to me that a lot of people in the Formula One paddock think that the team started doing badly when I fell pregnant and had a baby. How dare they.
“There are nine other team principals in F1 and I am sure the majority of them have children.
“Would you ever level that criticism at them? Am I not allowed a child because I am a woman running a Formula One team? It is a disgraceful attitude and a very 19th century attitude.
“I work seven days a week, pretty much all-year round, and if I didn’t bring Nate to a handful of races then I would rarely see him.
“But I am criticised for that as well. You cannot win.
“The fact that Williams are not doing well at the moment is not because I have a child.”