Canadian food magnate Michael Latifi has loaned Williams an undisclosed quantity of money, assisting the struggling British F1 team.
Recently, the United Kingdom’s Government documents showcased that Michael Latifi, father of F1 driver Nicholas, had given a lifeline to Williams Advanced Engineering, who were struggling financially even before the detrimental coronavirus crisis hit.
The last two F1 seasons for Williams have been extremely trying for them, as they’ve finished last in the standings every year since 2017, when they beat out Sauber. However, since their resurgence, the British team have been unable to come out of their slump.
To assist with funding, they’ve used pay drivers like Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, and while this isn’t necessarily the case with Michael’s son Nicholas, but a lot of Williams F1 Team’s current sponsors come by the way of the Canadian.
Also reported, but not confirmed, is the amount that Latifi has loaned, as it is suspected to be at least 50 million British pounds, based on the knowledge that the loan is secured with heritage Williams cars as well as the real estate, factory plant and machinery.
The documents has listed the heritage Williams F1 cars along with the areas of the real estate plus other items under the loan, which Latifi could be the owner of, if the British team faces issues. The Canadian is using ‘Latrus Racing Corp’ to provide the amount.
Apart from Latrus, they have HSBC UK Bank PLC also involved in the deal as its ‘security agent’. This re-financing follows after Williams had sold the majority stake of its Advanced Engineering division to funds under EMK Capital Ltd, back in December 2019.
It remains unclear at the moment, if Latifi will have any major role, if Williams is unable to repay the amount. The Canadian already holds shares/stakes of McLaren, after he got involved with the Woking-based F1 team in recent years.
Here’s the document provided by UK Government.
Here’s news on the sale of WAE
The story was edited by Darshan Chokhani