WILLIAMS’ new chief financial officer believes the Formula One team will be as competitive this year as it was in 2014.

Last year the Oxfordshire-based team came third in the F1 Constructors’ Championship.

That was a dramatic improvement from the previous year when Williams finished ninth, the company’s joint worst year.

Fans are wondering if Williams can possibly grab the top spot in 2015, and new CFO Alan Kinch is confident the team will be among the top teams.

He said: “We did a fantastic performance in 2014 competing against teams with much bigger budgets.

“We expect to be competitive again in the coming year.”

The 36-year-old, who started as CFO last December, is the latest in a series of key executive hirings, following group chief executive officer Mike O’Driscoll and chief technology officer Pat Symonds, who both joined in 2013.

Williams’ resurgence is partly due to the new management team and partly the result of renewed investment and the sale of noncore businesses.

Mr Kinch, who grew up in the Cotswolds village of Minety, comes to motorsport after a decade in the telecommunications industry.

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He said: “I was thinking it was probably the right point to leave Vodafone and take up a number one position at a public company.”

The Reading University graduate in mathematical statistics initially worked with KPMG before joining Cable &Wireless as an accountant.

He rose to become C&W’s group financial controller and was involved with Vodafone’s integration of the business after its 2012 takeover.

His last position was finance director of Vodafone Carrier Services.

Grove-based Williams, which employs about 650 staff, enables him to merge his professional goals with his personal interest in motorsport.

Mr Kinch, a father of three children aged under five who lives in Wokingham, in Berkshire, has his wife Sarah to thank for getting him into Formula One.

Her family would watch the sport on television every weekend.

Essentially, running the financial side of a business in the telecom and motorsport industries is very similar, he said.

But the big difference is that in Formula One any investment decision must be “focused on what gets the best car performance on track”.

He added: “You become more competitive, improve your position on the grid, win more prizemoney and attract more sponsors.”

The fastest the motorsport finance man has driven was about 160 mph in a Ferrari, he said.

The chance of topping thatin a Williams F1 car is unlikely.

“I might try to wangle my way into one of the simulators if I fit.”