Formula One dynasties have rarely been as finely exemplified as that of renowned race boss Sir Frank Williams and his daughter Claire, who doubles as his deputy in their grand prix team.

Her takeover as the guiding light, albeit under the auspices and watchful eye of her father, who retains the title of principal, has triggered a resurgence threatening enough to have the front runners looking anxiously in their rear-view mirrors.

Williams’ two gifted drivers, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, contentedly defer to Claire’s instructions as her father hovers in the background, a presence at most grands prix.

Sir Frank — Francis Owen Garbett Williams — knighted in 1999 for his motorsport efforts and backing for seven world champion drivers, is wheelchair-bound after suffering devastating spinal injuries when his rental car overturned on a journey between the Paul Ricard circuit and Nice Airport, in France, in March 1986.

He is now 73 and in need of constant attention — but his shrewd judgements and decisions, based on a the firmest of F1 foundations and experience — are both crucial and valued by Claire.

And, without a split second of regret, she has just announced that her father, despite his frustrating disability and age, will not be retiring.

Over the many years he and I have been in the F1 business together, we have had our differences, but there has never been any leftover ill-feeling and right up until today our mutual respect is one hundred per cent evidenced on his part towards me by his welcoming smile when I venture into the Williams garage at any grand prix.

Claire, who took her job in 2013, accepts she is destined to remain as deputy team principal for some years to come because team founder Sir Frank, in an heroic show of resilience, stresses he is going nowhere.

“Frank,” as she addresses her father, “is the team principal. Always has been. Always will be. And it will stay that way until one day we find him face down in his desk.

“He is in the office 24/7, more than any of us, and he says that will not change. He loves the job. He is passionate about F1 — but he has put in place a management team that he trusts to run the business under his overall guidance.

“He has no plans to retire. And, let’s be honest, neither Formula One nor the Williams team would be the same without him.”

His list of superb world-beaters carried to crowning success and vast fortunes in his cars is a roll of grand prix honour: Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

It can only be a matter of time before those trailblazers in Williams colours are followed onto the top steps of the grand prix podiums by one of their successors, more than likely the flying Finn Bottas.

As for the retirement factor, or rather the non-retirement factor, Sir Frank shares a determination to stick it out with his long-time friend, ally and admirer Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s ringmaster at the ripe old age of 84.

Ecclestone told me a couple of weeks ago: “I am never, ever, going to retire. And the only way those seekers after my job will know I have quit is when my coffin is being lowered into my grave.

“And then they would be advised to make sure the lid is nailed down.”

Long live the resilient and inimitable Formula One likes of Bernie and Sir Frank.

— The writer is a freelance journalist and motorsport expert