Formula 1 team Williams "expressed optimism" for F1's future under Liberty Media after the team reported a profit and increased revenues for '16 on Wednesday, according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. The British-based team, which last won a race in '12, finished fifth last year after "ending the previous two seasons in third place overall." Williams said that group revenue increased from £125.6M in '15 to £167.4M last year. The F1 team accounted for £116.7M, compared to £101.5M in '15. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization improved from a loss of £3.3M in '15 to a profit of £15.5M in '16 (REUTERS, 4/5). PLANET F1 reported Williams CEO Mike O'Driscoll was "particularly impressed with the results," especially with how expensive it is to run an F1 team "in the current climate." He said, "Our 2016 financial results represent continued improvement, with strong revenue growth across both Formula 1 and Advanced Engineering. Following a complete restructuring of our business over the previous two years, both operationally and financially, we made further gains in 2016" (PLANET F1, 4/5).
