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.
 
Yes but it is almost as if Paddy is being hung out to dry... no one is questioning Claire's leadership because pretty sure Williams wrote off last season to start building on this year's car early
 
:facepalm::o:oops::givemestrength:Even more problems at Williams is that they have not got all the parts to do a proper testing until Friday now

Formula 1 testing 2019: Williams describe delayed start to testing as 'embarrassing'

This is not embarrassing but actually shocking

Again the vultures seem to be out for Paddy Lowe. Amazing how he decided to swap life in the fast lane to be at the back in a space of 2 years and a bit.

Suggestions there is mutiny at Williams turning against Lowe. Now if Paddy is the one supposedly leading the car design then he is not doing a great but Williams have had a lot of engineers leave and this is not helping.

Amazing how it looks quite easy to manage at Mercedes when you have plenty of resources at your disposal compared to Williams who don't have the same man power now probably clear leadership

Whilst Paddy is in the firing line .. then who do Williams turn to replace him ? I can only think of Tim Goss using all his years at Mclaren who would be available but what Williams need is someone like Ross Brawn so it seems to organise them
 
Interesting insight given by Rob Smedley who left Williams in that he found the engineers tended to work in silos and did not really share things with each other

Now that amazes me a team like Williams with limited resources has such set up. It does not seem Paddy or Claire are able to fix it to be honest whether that is down to a lack of respect for either or siege mentality . It is certainly holding Williams back
 
Wouldn't Rob Smedley have been part of the problem?
Surely, as recent head of vehicle performance he had responsibility to break down that mentality...
 
gethinceri I concur wholeheartedly seeing this with the team I work with because its about ego - " I'm in the expert why should I be taking orders from an outsider or what do they know about X ?"

You look at Williams in recent times post Patrick Head they've had Mike Coughlan, Pat Symonds , Rob Smedley and Paddy Lowe. These guys have experience building and helping create race winning and championship teams and none of them have managed to help Williams back to the glory days

There was a mentioning of cultural change at Williams but I do wonder if Paddy Lowe is only part of the problem and NOT the problem at Williams

There is a lot of blaming at his door but it is not that simple

James Allison must be glad he did not pick Williams when he left Ferrari
 
gethinceri ...
You look at Williams in recent times post Patrick Head they've had Mike Coughlan, Pat Symonds , Rob Smedley and Paddy Lowe. These guys have experience building and helping create race winning and championship teams and none of them have managed to help Williams back to the glory days....

Yes, all those have been at the top previously; one failing could just be that person, four failing means a deeper problem in the top end of the management.
 
Well the writing was on the wall for him when they missed first few days of testing. The noises coming out of the team were that he was being blamed by staff from bottom level to top.
 
yes this was coming & if im honest im amazed he got this far. as this going very similar to in football we always joke about the dreaded vote of confidence & we know when a manager of a struggling team about to get the sack. when the chairman says he still has 100% faith in him

Lowe feels secure in his position at Williams despite 2018 F1 struggles - RaceFans

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/...ence-in-paddy-lowe-despite-their-dire-season/

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lowe-brushes-off-speculation-about-his-future/
 
would I right that Greenlantern101 bar 2008 all them titles were because the team had gotten a big advtange because of rules reset
92 - active suspension
98 & 99 - narrower cars
2014 - 16 - Hybrid engines

Il_leone I watched the Williams move & I thought it was fascinating, love his early life I didnt really know much about that. ill weirdly found many moments funny. my favourite was the stories at he found his eventual wife, because she & her husband to be ended up at his garage with 3 months to go to her wedding. they did get married but she left him for frank. or how she sat outside his house for a week hoping "bump" into him while going for a paper. I bet that ex-husband could never watch F1, as he'd keep seeing the guy that nicked my fiancée LOL
 
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