PARIS: Frank Williams was a colossus of Formula One, but lurking beneath all the success the British racing legend’s life was touched by tragedy.
Williams, who died on Sunday aged 79, was left a tetraplegic and confined to a wheelchair after a road accident in France in 1986.
The courage, energy and determination with which he dealt with this cruel roll of fate’s dice drew admiration from his family, friends, colleagues and the wider public.
With technical guru Patrick Head he created, from scratch, one of the greatest Formula One teams of all time.
Williams captured seven drivers’ titles, the last claimed by Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, while the team’s nine constructors’ crowns places Williams second only to mighty Ferrari.
His noted dry wit and charm, indefatigable spirit and resilience served him well on his journey from being a trainee sales rep for Campbell’s soup earning £10 a week, to the pinnacle of the high-octane world of F1.
Francis Owen Garbett Williams was born in South Shields in northeast England on April 16, 1942.
In his early days in motor racing, he had to conduct business from his local red telephone box when cash wasn’t flowing.
He established Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966, competing in F3 and F2, and F1 with a borrowed chassis from 1969.
The death of his first driver Piers Courage, driving for Williams at the Dutch GP at Zandvoort in 1970, was said to have marked him for life.
The first all-Williams built F1 car had an inauspicious start, when with Henri Pescarolo at the wheel, it was destroyed in a crash in 1972.
With funding an ever-present problem and having lost control of his company he left, with Head, to set up the team that is still racing today, in 1977.
Clay Regazzoni drove a Cosworth-powered Williams to its first F1 success, fittingly at the British Grand Prix, in 1979.
Australian Alan Jones won the team’s first drivers’ title the following season. Williams also collected the constructors’ championship that year.
Keke Rosberg took the 1982 title, with five more captured in a golden period between 1987 and 1997, all after Williams’ ill-fated 1986 dash to catch a flight in France that led to the car crash.
“I was late for a plane I didn’t need to be late for, I got the French time mixed up with the English time,” he was to recall.
Williams lost control of the rental car, causing it to leave the highway and drop 2.4 meters into a field. Williams suffered a spinal fracture between the fourth and fifth vertebra after being pressed between his seat and the crushed roof.
Williams was consigned to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
“But life has to go on,” he said. “I was able to continue in the business I was already in, but generally speaking it’s been a handicap in the true sense of the word.”
At the height of their powers, Ayrton Senna, who had won three titles with McLaren, came on board for the 1994 season, only to perish in a horrific high-speed crash at Imola.
Williams had a deep connection with the Brazilian great and was never able fully to come to terms with his death.
“Frank had a love affair with Ayrton,” his daughter Claire, who would later head the team, told The Sun newspaper in 2019.
“He got into his heart, got into his mind, and he always wanted to put him in his race car. Dad’s wish then came true, but it ended in the worst possible way.”
Not for the first time personal anguish failed to diminish Williams’ single-mindedness to succeed, with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve capturing the 1996 and 1997 world championships. He was knighted in 1999 and became Sir Frank.
“It’s been a great journey, one I’d love to do again if I was younger. I wouldn’t try and do anything different except try and avoid the accidents,” Williams told the BBC in 2010.
His death comes after his family ended 43 years of involvement in the team in September 2020, following its sale to Dorilton Capital.
Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told AFP shortly before the sale that the team had lost its raison d’etre when Williams stepped down from the board in 2012.
Both of them were among the co-founders of the Formula One Constructors’ Association in 1974.
“Dear old Frank had to work so hard to make sure the team competed and that happened,” he said.
“Frank was hands-on in the way he managed the team.
“He could get things done.”
Frank Williams, F1 pioneer who fought adversity to build dominant team
https://arab.news/jua5z
Frank Williams, F1 pioneer who fought adversity to build dominant team
- Williams’ dry wit and charm, indefatigable spirit and resilience served him well on his journey from being a trainee sales rep for Campbell’s soup to the pinnacle of F1
- Frank Williams: ‘It’s been a great journey, one I’d love to do again if I was younger. I wouldn’t try and do anything different except try and avoid the accidents’
EA Team of the Year celebrates top football players
RIYADH: To celebrate the best football players of the year, EA Sports has launched Team of the Year, allowing fans to create and vote for their dream team.
Saudi Arabia’s football talent is Salem Al-Dawsari, midfielder for Al-Hilal, who has earned his place as one of TOTY’s nominees, showcasing the region’s growing impact in the world of football.
Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, has also been nominated for TOTY.
Following the Italian and Spanish Super Cup matches, which were held in Riyadh and Jeddah, this year’s TOTY card lineup includes players from Italian teams AC Milan, Inter Milan, Atalanta, and Juventus, and Spanish teams Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
TOTY has cards for each position — goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and attackers — allowing fans to create the ultimate fantasy men’s or women’s football team.
The EA FC 25 TOTY vote will be closed on Jan. 12, 2025.
For more information on Team of the Year, visit www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-fc/fc-25/toty
Arab tennis hero Ons Jabeur plans to bounce back in 2025
- After a year beset by injuries, the Tunisian star tells Arab News she is confident of hitting the heights again
DUBAI: Last year was not one that Tunisian tennis superstar Ons Jabeur will remember with great fondness.
Having enthralled fans with her unique brand of tennis in the two previous years, reaching two Wimbledon finals and hitting the world No.2 ranking, 2024 was beset by injuries and disruptions.
As Jabeur prepares to launch her Australian Open campaign against Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine, she is determined to get back to the form that her army of supporters had come to expect of her.
“I’m feeling much better, happy to be back,” she told Arab News. “I feel like I’m playing good, I’m getting back into the game. I feel very motivated and definitely very positive. I can continue playing even better and the good news is there are a lot of great things to improve.”
Since landing in Australia at the start of the year, Jabeur has taken part in the Brisbane International, where she reached the quarterfinals, as well as the Adelaide International. Improving her form, and not her current WTA world ranking of 39, is the priority.
“I feel like ranking maybe would be a bit irrelevant in this case because if I focus a lot on it, I might kind of not see the level that I was in (before). I was in the top 10 for a good time and I think I need to always remember that I have that level to be one of the great players in the world.
“I always say the most important thing is that I should have the level and the ranking will follow up no matter how much time it will take.
“It is very important for me to get back to my game, and definitely improve a lot of points in my game. That would help me be a better player, especially, playing against these unbelievable players, they’re improving all the time and tennis is improving all the time. And I think it is really important for me to keep up with that game.”
Despite a tough year, Jabeur is now looking forward to mixing it with the next generation of players, for whom she has plenty of praise.
“It’s very impressive. A lot of things are growing very fast, (there are) a lot of unbelievable players,” she said. “You can see the level is super close between different players and it’s definitely an honor for me to be part of this generation, they are younger than me, but playing at the same time, it’s great to see that.
“It’s definitely motivating to get back on to the court and try to impose my game, because I know my game is a bit different than any other player and the challenge is kind of exciting.”
The Arab tennis hero is confident that she can return to the form she showed in 2022 and 2023.
“Definitely, yes. I think it’s a matter of time, a matter of motivation, and how mentally I feel about it because I always say if you’re mentally ready, and if in your head you’re ready, you can achieve anything. I think your body will follow and everything will follow.
“Now I think I have more experience than in 2022, which is a bonus I could use. But I’m definitely ready to get back into the game, to fight hard and leave everything on the court.”
Aside from her personal targets on court, Jabeur continues to be an inspiration for young Arab tennis talent, Both female and male.
“Of course, it’s one of my goals,” she said. “One of my dreams is to see our players playing on tour. I think we have the talent, I think we have so many motivated players to play on tour and I can say nothing is impossible.
“Just training from Tunisia, I discovered a lot of things and like I said, I’m happy to share my experience and … one day when I’m 100 percent focused, on maybe giving back more. That’s something I really want to do, and I think our region deserves to have more and more champions at international level.”
Saudi Arabia recently awarded citizenship to 15-year-old French tennis player Maysan Hussein, who is of Tunisian origin, and Jabeur believes such moves can help more players get a platform to realise their potential.
“I know Maysan, I met her and met her father, very nice people. Every player deserves the support, deserves to be there, deserves to not think about how much everything will cost. They just need to focus on their training and doing their best. And what Saudi and other countries are doing is really great and I hope they can help her and they can set a good program for her. I wish her well.”
Najmul to lead Bangladesh in Pakistan-hosted Champions Trophy
- Key players Liton Das and former all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan not part of the squad
- ODI Champions Trophy tournament takes place in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19
DHAKA: Najmul Hossain Shanto will captain Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai next month, the cricket board said Sunday, with key players including Liton Das missing the cut.
Former star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is also missing from the 15-man squad for the one-day international tournament.
The Champions Trophy takes place in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 with Bangladesh placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan and New Zealand.
Bangladesh are ninth in the ICC ODI rankings.
They play their opener against India in Dubai on February 20.
Bangladesh squad: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mahmudullah Riyad, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana.
Australian Open: Olympic champ Zheng Qinwen starts her bid for another final on a rainy Day 1
- They had just finished the pre-match formalities when play was delayed by a few minutes so that the roof could be closed
- It was one of the matches that continued under cover when tournament organizers suspended play on all outside courts until later in the afternoon
MELBOURNE: Zheng Qinwen’s tennis resume is quite different from what it was when she showed up at the Australian Open a full year ago. No matter everything she accomplished in 2024 — a runner-up finish at Melbourne Park; an Olympic gold medal for China — she felt jitters before entering Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
After overcoming some hiccups late in the opening set of her first-round match on a stormy Day 1 at the season’s first major tennis tournament, Zheng came through with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory against Anca Todoni, a 20-year-old qualifier from Romania who has won one Grand Slam match in her career.
“Actually, I feel really nervous,” said Zheng, who is seeded No. 5. “I started to feel nervous already since yesterday, ‘cause I felt special emotion for the Australian Open. ... I really like it here.”
As well she should.
It was 12 months ago on Melbourne’s hard courts that Zheng made it all the way to the final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka. The two-time champion was due to begin her title defense as the No. 1 seed on Sunday night against 2017 US Open title winner Sloane Stephens, before Alexander Zverev, the men’s No. 2 seed, faced Lucas Pouille.
Before her run in Australia last January, Zheng had only played in eight major tournaments, making one quarterfinal. Her big-hitting breakthrough opened a season in which she wound up with a gold draped around her neck at the Paris Games in August.
The 22-year-old Zheng’s power-based game is best suited for hard courts, and playing indoors doesn’t hurt, either, so she eventually was quite comfortable against Todoni under a closed retractable roof, while thunder and lightning and a serious downpour suspended action on the courts that can’t be covered.
Still, Zheng frittered away set points while serving for the opener at 5-4, then was forced to save set points for Todoni later. Afterward, Zheng said that being nervous usually makes her focus better, but this time, it didn’t make “me play my best tennis out there.”
Maybe that’s because it was her first match of the season. Still, she was good enough on this day.
The second set was more one-sided, and Todoni took a medical timeout for treatment on her lower back after three games.
Zheng was among only a handful of players able to complete matches in the early going at what is now a 15-day tournament after a Sunday start was instituted last year. That extra time, which spreads out the first round across three days, could be particularly helpful this week, when Monday’s packed program already included matches for Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek.
Other winners Sunday afternoon included No. 14 Mirra Andreeva, a 17-year-old from Russia; No. 18 Donna Vekic and No. 20 Arthur Fils.
“To be able to play a match and to finish a match with a roof, it’s much more easy than ... to stop with the rain,” said Fils, who eliminated Otto Virtanen of Finland 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4. “So, yeah, it’s a nice treatment.”
New Zealand recall proven trio for Pakistan-hosted Champions Trophy
- New Zealand recall Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Lockie Ferguson for upcoming tournament
- Key trio were unavailable for home ODI series against Sri Lanka due to offshore T20 commitments
Wellington: Seasoned players Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Lockie Ferguson were recalled Sunday to an experienced New Zealand squad to contest the Champions Trophy one-day tournament.
The key trio were unavailable for the just-completed home ODI series against Sri Lanka because of offshore T20 commitments.
Batters Williamson and Conway have been playing in South Africa’s T20 league while pace bowler Ferguson is involved in Australia’s Big Bash competition.
Ben Sears was also selected for the ICC tournament co-hosted by Pakistan and UAE, having missed the 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka with a knee injury.
It will be the first senior ICC event for Sears and fellow pace bowlers Will O’Rourke and Nathan Smith.
Coach Gary Stead will oversee a squad he said also boasted experience and depth.
“We’re currently blessed with a lot of quality players and that certainly made for some challenging selection discussions,” Stead said.
Spin bowler Mitchell Santner will lead New Zealand at a major event for the first time, after being named full-time white ball captain in December.
Santner, former skipper Williamson and wicketkeeper Tom Latham were all part of the New Zealand squad for the last edition of the Champions Trophy, in England and Wales in 2017.
New Zealand will contest the tournament’s opening match against Pakistan in Karachi on February 19, followed by pool games against Bangladesh and India.
New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (capt), Will Young, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears, Will O’Rourke
