JANUARY 18, 2005

Williams gets high-flying finance boss

Chris Chapple has been named as the head of finance of WilliamsF1. A former Royal Marine Commando who saw service in the Gulf War after graduating from Oxford with a law degree, Chapple joined Goldman Sachs and spent nearly 10 years in corporate finance before being recruited to join Marconi plc to assist with the company's financial restructuring, raising several billion dollars in the process. He was then hired by the Russian aluminium company Sual as chief development officer and prepared the firm for its listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The hiring of a City high-flyer is indication, if it was needed, of the increasing importance of financial roles in Formula 1 and an indication that the financial world sees Formula 1 as a good place to further one's career.