Williams Racing are one of the most successful and most important Formula 1 teams of all time, having won nine constructors’ and seven drivers’ championships to date.
Sir Frank Williams founded Williams Racing with Sir Patrick Head in 1977 to move away from buying customer cars. Williams submitted his first F1 entry called Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1969 for the Spanish GP. The team used a Brabham BT26A he bought for Piers Courage.
Courage would announce the Williams name to the world with his second place at the 1969 Monaco GP. Yet success eluded the team over the 1970s and as funds also dried up, Walter Wolf secured majority ownership. But Williams and Wolf’s relationship deteriorated rapidly.
Williams ultimately left owing to his declining partnership with the Canadian millionaire. But that decision laid the foundations for a new F1 team, Williams Grand Prix Engineering – now competing as Williams Racing – who debuted using a March chassis at the 1977 Spanish GP.
Williams and Head would debut their first in-house car, the FW06, at the 1978 Argentine GP. While Alan Jones secured the Williams team their first podium at the 1978 United States GP and their first pole at the 1979 British GP, which Clay Regazzoni won for Williams’ first win.
Williams Racing team name
Williams Racing adopted their current team name in the 2014 Formula 1 season, having run as Williams F1 Team beforehand. They have regularly made minor alterations to the team’s name over the years – including running as BMW Williams F1 from the 2000 to 2005 terms.
Williams Racing founding year
Sir Frank Williams founded Williams Racing in 1977 with Sir Patrick Head after competing in Formula 1 with customer cars originally. Williams became his first fully-fledged private entry and won their first race with Clay Regazzoni at their home British GP at Silverstone in 1979.
Williams would grow into one of the most successful and important Formula 1 teams of all time. No season highlights their significance more than in 1992 when Head, Adrian Newey, Paddy Lowe and Frank Dernie designed the FW14B with its pioneering active suspension.
The FW14B was years and years ahead of its time and allowed Nigel Mansell to register one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1’s history. He won nine of the 16 Grand Prix and took the title with five rounds to spare, scoring 203% of the points of the best non-Williams.
Williams sticking with the development of a semi-automatic gearbox after reliability issues proved costly in 1991 let Mansell and Riccardo Patrese change gears around five seconds a lap faster. But the active suspension was a game-changer as it controlled the car’s attitude.
Williams Racing current team principal
Williams Racing appointed James Vowles as their team principal in January 2023 to replace Jost Capito. Vowles moved to Grove from Mercedes, where he worked as the Silver Arrows’ strategy director since January 2019. He also oversaw Mercedes’ young driver programme.
Vowles first joined the Brackley outfit as British American Racing’s (BAR) chief strategist in December 2001. He would remain at the team through their spells as Honda and Brawn GP. But Williams made Vowles only their third team principal after Sir Frank Williams and Capito.
Williams Racing current drivers
Williams employ Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant as their two full-time Formula 1 race drivers for the 2024 season. Albon joined the team before the 2022 season for his return to F1 after a year as Red Bull’s reserve driver. Williams promoted Sargeant from F2 for the 2023 season.
What F1 engine do Williams Racing use?
Mercedes have supplied Williams with engines since the 2014 season, when Formula 1 first adopted turbo-hybrid power units. The Grove squad also signed a new contract to continue running the Silver Arrows’ engines until at least the end of the 2030 season in January 2024.
Williams use the M15 E Performance 1.6 litre V6 turbo-hybrid power unit built by Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains (HPP) engine division in 2024. The team decided to join with the Silver Arrows for F1’s regulation changes in 2014 after running Renault units since 2012.
Team lineage
Williams Racing’s team lineage only features one name, their founded Sir Frank Williams. He founded the franchise after the Briton’s previous efforts to establish a Formula 1 outfit failed to work out. Although Williams have regularly signed title sponsorship deals over the years.
Williams Racing drivers’ championships
Williams are among the most successful Formula 1 teams to date, having won seven drivers’ championships. Alan Jones won Williams their first drivers’ title in the team’s fourth season on the grid. But Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 remains their most recent F1 drivers’ champion.
1980 – Alan Jones (67 points)
1982 – Keke Rosberg (44 points)
1987 – Nelson Piquet (73 points)
1992 – Nigel Mansell (108 points)
1993 – Alain Prost (99 points)
1996 – Damon Hill (97 points)
1997 – Jacques Villeneuve (81 points)
Williams Racing constructors’ championships
Williams emerged as a dominant force in Formula 1 through the 1980s and 1990s. They also remain one of the most successful constructors’ champions to date with nine titles. Williams took their first title in 1980 whilst it was still called the International Cup for F1 Constructors.
1980 (120 points) – Alan Jones (71 points), Carlos Reutemann (49 points)
1981 (95 points) – Carlos Reutemann (49 points), Alan Jones (46 points)
1986 (141 points) – Nigel Mansell (72 points), Nelson Piquet (69 points)
1987 (137 points) – Nelson Piquet (76 points), Nigel Mansell (61 points), Riccardo Patrese (0 points)
1992 (164 points) – Nigel Mansell (108 points), Riccardo Patrese (56 points)
1993 (168 points) – Alain Prost (99 points), Damon Hill (69 points)
1994 (118 points) – Damon Hill (91 points), David Coulthard (14 points), Nigel Mansell (13 points), Ayrton Senna (0 points)
1996 (175 points) – Damon Hill (97 points), Jacques Villeneuve (78 points)
1997 (123 points) – Jacques Villeneuve (81 points), Heinz-Harald Frentzen (42 points)
Williams Racing factory base
Williams moved to their current factory in Grove in 1996 after starting out in Didcot in 1977. The team bought their facilities, previously owned by Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd, to further their potential in Formula 1. But Williams have struggled to recapture the Didcot glory days.
Development works down the years have improved the complex located on the outskirts of a village in Oxfordshire. It was originally a 32-acre site featuring offices and a warehouse. It now houses Williams’ entire F1 operation through R&D and production to building the cars.
Factory address
Williams Racing: Station Road, Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire, England, OX12 0DQ
Williams Racing contact details
Website: williamsf1.com
General enquiries: enquiries@williamsf1.com
Other contact details: Full list here
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