© Williams

Dickie Stanford’s passion for motor racing began at Brands Hatch in 1968, when he went to watch the Race of Champions aged 12. With no formal training behind him, his first job in the sport was unpaid, but he quickly progressed up the ladder.

He started out in Sports 2000 as a mechanic to drivers James Weaver and Jonathan Palmer, and he then went to work for Tiga in Formula 3.

Stanford had his first contact with Williams in 1983, when he turned up on the doorstep of the team’s factory in Didcot and asked for a job. He was given a one-hour interview by the team manager, but there were no jobs available at the time and he was forced to take a job with Ralt in Formula 2.

The job with Ralt led to more contact with Williams because Ralt used the Williams wind tunnel at the time. Stanford got to know team manager Alan Challis and eventually secured a second interview.

Two months later, in January 1985, Stanford began his long career with Williams. He went straight into the race team as a mechanic on Nigel Mansell’s car and learnt on the job. Over subsequent years he worked his way up to chief mechanic, before becoming team manager in 1995. He remained in that job for ten years, before stepping back to spend more time with his family.

In 2010 Stanford took up the reins once again as race and test team manager.