Current Williams

Williams Grand Prix Engineering

FIA Entry: AT&T Williams
Car 11: Rubens Barrichello
Car 12: Pastor Maldonado
Engine: Cosworth V8
Team Principal: Frank Williams
Director of Engineering: Patrick Head
Technical Director: Sam Michael
Race Engineer Car 11: Tony Ross
Race Engineer Car 12: Tom McCullough

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 1977
Races Entered 539
Race Wins 113
Pole Positions 126
Fastest Laps 130
Driver World Championships 7
Constructor World Championships 9

Team History

The Early Years

Like many team owners and principals Frank Williams started life as a driver and mechanic. Realising his ability as a driver wouldn't allow him to reach the levels he hoped Williams set up Frank Williams Racing Cars and in 1969 entered a Brabham chassis for Piers Courage. Through to 1976 Williams entered customer cars from other manufacturers before settings up Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977 with Patrick Head.

Williams Grand Prix Engineering

In 1977 Williams GPE entered a March 761 for Patrick Neve. In 1978 Patrick Head designed his first Williams car, the FW06, driven by Australian Alan Jones The car scored it's first points at the South African Grand Prix and Jones took Williams first podium at Long Beach, finishing 2nd behind Carlos Reutemann in a Ferrari.

In 1979 the FW07 chassis debuted and Williams had grown into a 2 car team with Clay Regazzoni joining Alan Jones. Regazzoni scored Williams first Grand Prix victory at Silverstone and Jones took another 4 victories that season. Continuing with the FW07(in A and B spec) in 1980 Jones, now partnered by Carlos Reutemann, won 6 races (5 for Jones and 1 for Reutemann) with Jones winning the drivers title and Williams the Constructors Championship.

With the FW07 in C & D spec Williams won 4 more races and again took the Constructors Championship in 1981 but missed out on the Drivers Title. Continuing with Cosworth power in 1982 Williams moved onto the FW08, a car originally designed as 6 wheeler, and Keke Rosberg joined Carlos Reutemann. Reutemann retired 2 races into the season and Mario Andretti stood in for a single race before Derek Daly permanently replaced Reutemann. Rosberg only managed a single win at the Swiss Grand Prix 1982 but it was enough for him to win the Drivers Championship.

Having driven for Frank Williams back in 1974 and 1975 Jacques Laffite partnered Keke Rosberg in 1983. Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix with Cosworth power and by the end of the season Williams had moved to Honda turbo power and the FW09 chassis. 1984 continued the pattern of 1 win per season for Rosberg and the Williams team with Keke taking first place in Dallas.

The Honda Era

Nigel Mansell joined Williams in 1985 and the team, still with Honda turbo engines, won 4 Grand Prix. Piquet replaced Rosberg for 1986 and between them Mansell and Piquet won 9 of the 16 races and Williams the Constructors Championship. 1987 saw another 9 victories for the team and another victory in the Constructors Championship as well as Piquet winning the Drivers Title

The departure of Honda as engine supplier and Piquet as a driver in 1989 saw Williams move temporarily to Judd engines and Mansell, now partnered by Riccardo Patrese, had a very lean season with their highest finish only 4th.

Renault Power

Williams secured Renault V10 power for 1989 and the next 9 season proved to be Williams most successful. They won 63 Grands Prix, 5 Constructors Championship (1992, 93, 94, 96 & 97) and 4 Drivers Titles (Mansell 92, Prost 93, Hill 96 and Villeneuve 97). Other winners for Williams in this period of dominance included Riccardo Patrese, Thierry Boutsen, Heinz Harald Frentzen and David Coulthard. This period was also touched by tragedy when Ayrton Senna lost his life in a Williams car at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in 1994

The withdrawal of Renault from F1 in 1998 moved Williams into another barren spell as the cars were powered by ageing Renault engines produced by Mecachrome (98) and Supetec (99).

BMW Williams

Williams changed to BMW V10 engines in 2000 and returned to the winners circle in 2001 with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel. The partnership with BMW continued until 2006 with Williams winning 10 Grands Prix and were runners up in the Constructors Championship in 2002 and 2003. Ralph Schumacher drove for Williams for 6 season and was partnered by Alex Zanardi, Jenson Button (debuting in F1 in 2000) and Montoya with Mark Gene and Antonio Pizzonia making occasional appearances as stand in drivers. BMW's final season with Williams saw Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld taking podiums but able to not challenge for wins.

Toyota Customer

A season of Cosworth power in 2006, with Mark Webber joined by F1 new boy Nico Rosberg, proved very unsuccessful and in 2007 Williams became customers of Toyota. As one of the few truly independent teams still competing in F1 Williams struggled to compete with the factory supported teams and were probably best categorised as "the best of the rest". Webber left at the end of 2007 and Rosberg, initially partnered by Alex Wurz and then by Toyota "works" driver Kazuki Nakajima, managed a highest finish of 2nd in Singapore 2008 with Williams finishing 4th, 8th and 7th in the Constructors Championship whilst using Toyota power.

In 2009 Williams sold a minority share in the company to an Austrian investment company led by Toto Wolff.

Williams Cosworth

In 2010 Williams returned to Cosworth engines and signed up Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg to drive for them. Hulkenberg took a surprising pole in changeable weather conditions in Brazil to give Williams their first such grid position since Nick Heidfeld in 2005. Although regular points finishers Williams weren't challenging for wins and finished the season 6th in Constructors Championship.

2011 sees Rubens Barrichello retain his seat at Williams with GP2 Champion Pastor Maldonado alongside him. They will continue with Cosworth engine power.
 
And that's going to have the same effect on the team as the day the Chapman family sold their shares in Lotus (1989) within 5 years they were gone.

:teary:
 
FB

It means his son will drive for the team

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Frank would never sell out his team ... so I wonder how long Claire will hold out until the white flag is raised for this once great team
 
Who else might want to take over though, other than some other rich bloke looking to buy a team for his son to driver for?
 
It would be a sad end to one the greatest teams in F1.

Sometimes it works, one of the most iconic teams in V8 supercars DJR who have been around since the 1970's were in a similar situation a few years back. Sold 51% to Penske and have gone from mid pack runners to championship winners and even more dominate this season.
I guess the big difference with what is now know as DJR/Penske is the buyer was bringing the might of their engineering and race experience to the table as well as cash.
It can work in F1, both redbull and mercedes are evolutions of previous teams if it does happen it would be nice if williams was still in the team name.
 
Sometimes it works, one of the most iconic teams in V8 supercars DJR who have been around since the 1970's were in a similar situation a few years back. Sold 51% to Penske and have gone from mid pack runners to championship winners and even more dominate this season.
I guess the big difference with what is now know as DJR/Penske is the buyer was bringing the might of their engineering and race experience to the table as well as cash.
It can work in F1, both redbull and mercedes are evolutions of previous teams if it does happen it would be nice if williams was still in the team name.

Yea, I see a Russian billionaire with a son who is a race car driver. There are several reasons to be concerned. This is not Roger Penske.
 
I think Porsche are very much invested in getting their Formula E team up and running. Williams do make Formula E tech however.
 
I think Williams will just soldier on until bankruptcy unless they get a manufacturer support. The new rules for 2021 might be the wildcard with Porsche interested in coming in but can Williams last long enough to be still competing ought to be the question now
 
Williams 1.5 and 2.1 seconds off 18th in Canada.

Poor Robert Kubica is clearly struggling. Only once so far has he managed to dip under 1 second behind the first non Williams spot and and has only got close to Russell once, in Bahrain.

The team have appeared to make zero progress. Last year they qualified 18th and 19th with a 1.13.5 and a 1.13.6. This year we have a 1.13.6 and a 1.14.1
 
So Williams have got Patrick Head in place and yet they are still rooted to the back of the grid so is it all Paddy Lowe's fault then ?:whistle:

Its strange feeling that Kubica is starting last at the place which probably will be his only grand prix win
 
yes i saw that he said "After a period of careful reflection I have reached the decision that I will not return to work at Williams” i dont to have ago at the guy but it does seem as if the success he been apart off is despite him not because of him. the success of podiums & poles was only because mercedes engine papering over some quite large aerodynamical holes. even massa wasnt a bit off towards saying that considering his track record. he expected far more than he actually got.
 
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McLaren, AMG Mercedes, Williams... I am not sure if he was asked to leave, or he has left on his own... for a Cambridge guy I was sort off expecting something else. Aren't Newey and Allison from the same ed. background?
 
the feeling i get id that nobody to blame him publicly but privately they feel he is root of all their problems. just from how Claire Williams & Felipe massa have tried to be tactful about him
 
I do not think Paddy Lowe is the source of all of Williams problems if they are exist already in Williams but have been magnified by his incompetence. Maybe Paddy works well in an environment where his role is clearly understood and defined like at Mercedes and MClaren backed probably by additional resources

At Williams maybe he has had to do a lot of things himself additionally. I still don't know if anyone has forgiven him for jumping with Toto to Mercedes back in 2014 when he was supposed to have an offer from Williams back then
 
"have denied neither they or the Polish driver are preparing for early exits at Williams."
Unintelligible gobbledygook.
 
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