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.

 

[Jimbob]

RIP, Frank Williams.

 

[Dartman]

There are a few left.

Mike Costin, Walter Wolf, Patrick Head, Jackie Oliver and Ron Dennis to name a few but not many more now.

No they weren't team owners, Wolf possibly but later, Dennis took over McLaren, the ones I mean were Cooper, Chapman, Brabbam and Tyrell, all before aero and built their own cars.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Cooper, Chapman, Brabham and Tyrell all pre-dated Sir Frank. After all of the issues he had with his ISO Cars and so on, he was wise enough to work out what they did and do it better. Really, Williams would have never made it out of the 70's if it wasn't for Franks determination, Patrick Head and Frank Dernie's work on the FW07 and the pace of Alan Jones. It was mid way through 1979 when Williams came of age. Ironically, the rise of Frank Williams was matched by the decline of Colin Chapman.

Definately the end of a generation I guess.

 

[FB]

A man who lived many lives in his 79 years. Thank you Frank for being the man behind so many beautiful racing cars and providing me with many happy hours of entertainment for so many years.

This quote from FW on Pastor Maldonado I think sums up the man - When asked if Maldonado was only at Williams in the first place because of money, Williams said: "Yeah, he was to some extent. I'm not denying that. But if we thought he'd been a w@#ker, he wouldn't have got in the team no matter how much money he had."

A final thought, if you want to understand his relationship with his drivers take the time to read the biography of Piers Courage, who died at the wheel of car entered and prepared by an early iteration of a Williams F1 team.

 

[Il_leone]

Sad day for F1 to lose a legend.

That Williams documentary will stick in my mind about the man's determination and belief to run his own team.

The teams dominance was always based on excellent engineers something Frank was keen to emphasise about his team.


He was not scared of falling out with his drivers who he just saw as employees and engine manufacturers such was his stubbornness .
There were some inspired driver signings like Mansell , Hill and JV along with some questionable ones like Boutsen, and Frentzen.

As F1 moved along into 21st Century it seems Frank's way of management was outdated . The fallout with BMW was the start of the decline.

They missed a golden opportunity with first 2012 car and then 2014 car as they should have done better

 

[F1Brits_90]

2014 will always annoy me Il_leone because if they had cottoned to the downforce issue instead of be blinded by engine they couldve done really well. but they waited til 2017

 

[Il_leone]

2014 - I was surprised they were sometimes 2nd fastest car but lacked a top driver to make the difference..the recurring theme of 2015 and 2016 really was made worse by 2017 and 2018 in signing Stroll the Sirotkin.

The money Stroll bought actually was no gain as the dropped positions in the constructors from 2016 in 2017 equated to the same loss in prize money and an even worse car

We can always talk about Claire Williams leadership - she is not Frank and her time off leaving Paddy in charge supposedly was a mistake in that there was a loss of control

Rob Smedley and Pat Symonds could not change things around citing the culture at Williams a problem

I am still frustrated with 2012 Maldonado should have done a lot better and Hulkenberg would have had he been in the car

Toto Wolff briefly got Williams back up to the front but when he moved to Mercedes we can see the team declining

 

[cider_and_toast]

"Lance Stroll was the reason"

Now what was the question?

 

[The Artist.....]

In the modern era, I think that Williams has the distinction of being the only team (save Brawn, for obvious reasons) that has won the drivers' championship, but no driver has won multiple times...

Mercedes (Hamilton x infinity)
Red Bull (Vettel x 4)
Renault (Alonso x 2)
Ferrari (Schumacher x 5, Lauda x 2)
McLaren (Hakkinen x 2, Senna x 3, Prost x 3)
Benetton (Schumacher x 2)
Brabham (Piquet x 2)
Tyrrell (Stewart x 2)
Lotus (Clark x 2)

With the exception of Brawn, you have to go back to 1962 to find the last time a victorious team where a driver never repeated their triumph to the team, with Graham Hill and BRM. Prior to that, Alfa Romeo had a single title for Farina and Fangio in '50 and '51.

Yet Williams, one of the most successful teams of all time had 7 drivers win championships, but never twice in a Williams car...

Jones
Rosberg
Piquet
Mansell
Prost
Hill
Villeneuve.

 

[cider_and_toast]

you have to go back to 1962 to find the last time a victorious team where a driver never repeated their triumph to the team,

If you're saying Stewart only one 2 titles for Tyrell then the answer to your puzzle is surely 1969 when Stewart won the only title for Matra?

 

[cider_and_toast]

Yet Williams, one of the most successful teams of all time had 7 drivers win championships, but never twice in a Williams car...

Jones
Rosberg
Piquet
Mansell
Prost
Hill
Villeneuve.

Jones - Even though he was still quick, I think he'd pretty much given up in 81. I don't think he got on well with Carlos Reutemann.

Rosberg - Only won the 1982 title because he was the last man left standing. In truth, that was Pironi's title to lose. Rosberg took 5 wins in 4 years at Williams and only 1 in his title winning season. He did have a remarkable talent for blowing turbos up.

Piquet - No Honda, No Nelson.

Mansell - Should have been a multiple champion but drove like a total spanner. Everyone will point to that tyre failure in Australia but few will recall he made a complete horlix of his start in Mexico from third on the grid. He ended the first lap almost last. That's where he lost the title. Then he didn't want to play with Prost

Prost - Didn't want to play with Senna. Wouldn't have won in 94 anyway.

Hill - Sacked for wanting more money.

Villeneuve - Those outdated Mechachrome engines were never going to win the team another title.

 

[Il_leone]

Jones - Even though he was still quick, I think he'd pretty much given up in 81. I don't think he got on well with Carlos Reutemann.

Rosberg - Only won the 1982 title because he was the last man left standing. In truth, that was Pironi's title to lose. Rosberg took 5 wins in 4 years at Williams and only 1 in his title winning season. He did have a remarkable talent for blowing turbos up.

Piquet - No Honda, No Nelson.

Mansell - Should have been a multiple champion but drove like a total spanner. Everyone will point to that tyre failure in Australia but few will recall he made a complete horlix of his start in Mexico from third on the grid. He ended the first lap almost last. That's where he lost the title. Then he didn't want to play with Prost

Prost - Didn't want to play with Senna. Wouldn't have won in 94 anyway.

Hill - Sacked for wanting more money.

Villeneuve - Those outdated Mechachrome engines were never going to win the team another title.

Jones - I don't think he gave up because he demanded that he should be treated as equal which was the Williams policy apparently so they ended up with 4 cars for the last race which he won instead of supporting Reutemann he just disappeared into the distance.

Two races which screwed him Brazil - Reutemann ignored a team order to let him through and Spain - where Villeneuve drove the race of his life and forced him off from the lead under pressure

He thought as world champion he was rightful No 1 but Reutemann decided otherwise

Rosberg - agree title was Ferrari's to lose and Renault did not capitalise either . Keke drove with consistency to win that year .. the years after with Honda he was able to show more of his ability but Prost proved too much for him in 1986 when he switched.

Piquet / Honda - agree you do wonder if Mansell won in 86 would Honda have stayed who knows if the team would be dominating instead of Mclaren

Mansell - money and status but he felt Prost / Williams were not open as it was known by the time he arrived at Silverstone that Prost was already signed for 1993. He would have been better staying given the support and rapport he had within WIlliams and the rustiness of Prost being a year out racing

Prost - as well as screwing Mansell and not allowing Senna to join he really was outrageously lucky to win 1993 as all the bad luck seems to fall to Hill. Even drivers like Hakkinen and Brundle were vetoed which I am pretty sure he had a say in the matter. Senna 's comment about "Maybe we should swap cars" at Donington was classic after giving him a driving lesson in the wet. It was not vintage Prost

Hill sacking - this lead to Williams decline because Newey loved Hill and thought he had a right to know who was inputting into the car as chief designer. Not long after Newey left after designing the super quick FW19 which some how the team failed to develop

Villeneuve - scrapped through to 1997 title because of what happened to Hill and Newey above. It was not just the Mechachrome engine it was the chassis as well and without Newey they started falling behind Ferrari and Mclaren

Williams could have had two drivers titles now in 1981 and 1986 for sure

 

[Il_leone]

Watching A YouTube clip The 1990s F1 mistake Williams never recovered from around 3 factors that drove Newey out if the team

Strike 1 Mansell divorce


In 1993 Newey had signed a contract which included a clause that he should have a say on driver signings after the saga of 3 world champions trying to get into Williams with Prost playing the politics and Frank Williams trying to not give Mansell a pay rise and equal status until it was too late. Newey felt Mansell was poorly treated and this is one of the reasons for his clause

Strike 2 Villeneuve signing

Apparently if JV got within 1 second of Hill he would get another test before considering. JV was signed without another test and Newey was aggrieved as Frank Williams said he was on holiday so they made the call without him

Strike 3 Sacking Hill

Frentzen was apparently signed before 1996 season but Newey only found out by Sep 1996 Monza time because Frank wanted a Schumacher beater.
Newey was working close with Hill to develop the car and was angry he was not told about it
Williams tried to say he was contracted to 1999 when he said he wants to quit and citing they broke their agreement with not consulting him over drivers

He describes Frank and Patrick as "Creatures of old habit who failed to adapt to new order " "There was not room for a 3rd person" in his book "How to build a car"

Newey took legal advice and go on garden leave whilst still working on the quick FW19.. Mclaren settled financially to get him for Aug 1997.

It does appear Newey wanted a stake in the team and BMW who came after Renault masked how poor the chassis were

 

[Il_leone]

Also on YouTube they consider the 10 causes to their slide to the back by the RACE

1.Losing Newey as aforementioned above
2. BMW great engine but Williams chassis was not great
3. Splitting with BMW - no free engines and loss of sponsors and not selling the team to them
4. Not replacing Patrick Head with a suitable Technical Director
5. Engine merry go round 5 engine partners for the last 15 years since 2006
6. Running pay drivers - Nakajima to get free engines, Maldonado due to sponsor the list goes on Senna, Sirotkin and Stroll

7. 2013 Concorde Agreement the money went to Red Bull Mercedes and Ferrari
8. Splitting with the Strolls - loss of money and investment might have helpful long term
9. 2018/19 slump last in the constructors
10 COVID forcing the need to sell

 

[gethinceri]

All very interesting points, but where’s the covid connection?

 

[Il_leone]

Well Covid meant they could not develop the car like others I think they had to put staff on furlough

 

[gethinceri]

I think that’s not any different from the difficulties faced by other teams relating to covid.

 

[Il_leone]

Tbh Covid hurt Williams more given they had to abide by so called government rules about lockdown

Mercedes and Red Bull could cope Mclaren struggled but had enough business nous to have a back up plan

 

[FB]

Bit of a windfall for Williams, albeit money they should have been paid. - Williams win $35million court case against former title sponsor

 

[The Artist.....]

Just think if, 15 years ago, Jordan had been as lucky with their case against Vodafone... Jordan could now be winning the WDC!