Williams Grand Prix Engineering
Template:F1 team WilliamsF1, formerly Williams Grand Prix Engineering, is a Formula 1 (F1) motor racing team formed and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head. The team's first race was in the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix, as an entrant with Brabham chassis, their first race was "Williams" was nine years later at the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix. The team's first win came in the 1979 British Grand Prix, Swiss Clay Regazzoni winning the race.
After two earlier F1 operations, Frank Williams Racing Cars and Walter Wolf Racing, Williams founded Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977. The team became very successful during the 1980s and the 1990s, winning nine F1 Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships and becoming one of the F1 "Big Three" teams, as they have achieved over 100 race victories alongside the likes of Ferrari and McLaren.
Many famous racing drivers have driven for Williams, including Keke Rosberg; Nigel Mansell; Damon Hill; Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. As well as drivers, Williams have been serviced with many notable engine manufacturers, the Renault engine being the engine that brought the most success to the team, as Williams won five of their nine contructor's titles with the Renault engine. In total, Williams have 113 races out of 524 races they've completed.
Early Years (1964-1978)
Related Articles: Frank Williams Racing Cars; De Tomaso; Walter Wolf Racing
Frank Williams was born 16 April, 1942. His motor racing career began in 1964 when he raced a crash repaired F3 Brabham with owner Anthony "Bubbles" Horsley. For 1965, Williams raced a Cooper Ford T72 then switched to Brabham in 1966. With this car he was able to score his only F3 victory in Sweden in August 1966. Williams was to leave his driving career after after a crash in his Brabham in Portugal at Vila Real road circuit. The end of 1966 saw Williams retire to run a racing car sales business. During this period Williams gained reputation as excellent businessman. A skill that was to be used extensively over the next decades.
In 1967, Williams wanted to move into entering his own car. At the end of season F3 race he entered a Brabham BT21B driven by Piers Courage. He also drove for Frank in Formula 2 and in 1969 the decision was made to move into Formula One. Williams was able to acquire a Brabham BT26 chassis with the intention to enter the car in the 1969 Formula One Championship with Piers driving. During that season Piers scored a second place in the Monaco and United States Grand Prix. Frank seemed to be ready to move into the upper echelons of Formula One.
During 1969 Frank met Alessandro de Tomaso, an Argentine businessman, who had previously had built a Formula 2 car by Gianpaolo Dallara. Tomaso wanted to build a new Grand Prix car which Frank would enter and Courage would drive. Williams was to supply the engines and drivers. Piers agreed to drive turning down an offer to drive for Ferrari with Jacky Ickx. The new Cosworth DFV Tomaso 505 was far from what Courage had expected. As the season progressed the car improved but the Brit tragically lost his life when, at the 1969 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, he crashed and his car caught fire. Frank Williams was devastated by his death. After this tragedy the team struggled through the rest of the season by which time Frank's company, Williams Racing Cars, was in financial difficulties. But Frank Williams continued to establish himself as a Formula One constructor.
In 1971 Frank was to run Henri Pescarolo's March 711. Sponsorship from Politoys would allow Frank to build a Formula One chassis which Pescarolo would crash in the 1972 British Grand Prix. In 1973, Frank was able to secure sponsorship from Marlboro and the Iso-Rivolta sports car company. It can be said that these were the first true Williams Formula One cars. Frank would continue to struggle with a lack of resources.
By 1975 the situation had improved little, but it was at this time that he meet the Canadian Walter Wolf who was eventually bought 60% of the companies shares. The team was renamed Walter Wolf Racing for the start of the 1976 season. The team purchased a Hesketh 308C which was on the market after the Hesketh team closed down.
WilliamsF1 Years (1978-Present)
Ford (1978-1983)
Related Article: Ford Motor Company
Despite the promise of a new owner and car the situation for the team did not improve, with the car being seriously un-competitive. The situation reached the point where Frank left the team and move to the now famous site at Didcot to rebuild his team, "Williams Grand Prix Engineering". Frank was able to get a young engineer to work for the team by the name of Patrick Head. This was the beginning of the now famous "Williams-Head" partnership.
1976
Williams Grand Prix Engineering's first race was at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace for the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix, the Williams team was represented by Italian Renzo Zorzi. The 20-year old Italian qualified in 17th position for the race, and finished in 9th position. The William team didn't compete in the next two Grand Prix in South Africa and The United States (West). The team came back for the fourth round in Jarama, 32-year old Emilio Zapico represented the team, however, the Spaniard was one of six drivers who failed to qualify for the race. The Williams team didn't enter anymore races that year and failedto score any points in the two races that they entered, mainly due to the fact that they were racing in the previous year's model. The Williams team ended up equal 14th in the constructors championship, sharing their position with Wolf-Williams.
1977
Williams entered two races of the 1977 calender, the first of which was at Monza, where 27-year old Swiss driver, Loris Kessel, failed to qualify, along with nine other drivers. The the second year running, the Williams team failed to score any points and finished equal 13th place.
1978
For the 1978 season, Frank was signed Australian Alan Jones, who had won the Austrian Grand Prix the previous season. Jones' first race for the team in Argentina, where he driving the lone Williams, the Australian had qualified in 14th position,but after 36 laps, Jones retired due to a fuel system failure. The team scored it's first championship points two rounds later at Kyalami, Jones finished in fourth position. Williams had their second point scoring finish five rounds later at Paul Ricard, when Jones finished fifth, earning two points for himself and the Williams championship campain. Williams managed their first podium position another five rounds later at Watkins Glen, where the Australian second, about 20 seconds behind the Ferrari of future Williams driver Carlos Reutemann. Williams ended the season in tenth place in the constructor's championship, with a repsectable 16 points, while Alan Jones finished 12th in the driver's championship.
1979
In 1979, Head was to design the FW07. This was the teams first ground-effect car, a technology first introduced by Colin Chapman and the Lotus Team. With Jones and Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni, Williams now had a very competitive team. The team would have to wait until the seventh round at Monaco for a points scoring position, it was Clay Regazzoni who did it, coming second and finished under a second behind race winner Jody Scheckter, so the team were so painfully close to winning their first race. The next round at Dijion may have been overshadowed by the final lap battle between Jabouille and Gilles Villeneuve, but this race would be yet another milestone for Williams, as both cars finished in point scoring positions, Jones finishing in fourth while Regazzoni came sixth, earning four points for Williams' '79 campain. It was yet another milestone for Williams at the team's home Grand Prix in Britain, when Regazzoni won the race almost 25 seconds ahead of anyone else.
The team were certainly on a high after their win at Silverstone and it got even better when both Williams cars finished first and second at the next round in Hockenheim, Alan Jones finished two seconds ahead of Regazzoni. Jones then made it three wins in a row at the Österreichring, finishing half a minuite ahead of Gille Villeneuve's Ferrari. Three wins in a row was four wins two weeks later at Zandvoort, Alan Jones winning again by a comfortable margin over Jody Scheckter's Ferrari. Sheckter would then end Williams' run of four wins when he won Ferrari's home Grand Prix in Italian, Regazzoni finished third behind both of the Ferraris. Alan Jones managed a win at the second to last race at Montreal to cap off a great season for Williams. In terms of contructor's championship position, Williams had greately improved, finishing eight places higher then last year and scoring 59 points more then the previous season. Alan Jones was the nearest driver to the Ferrari duo of Villeneuve and 1979 champion Jody Sheckter, the Australian scored 43 points, 17 behind the South African, while Jones' team mate, Regazzoni, was 2 places behind him with 32 points.
1980
In 1980, Alan Jones was partnered with Argentine Carlos Reutemann. The team started well in the championship, with Jones winning the first round of the season in Argentina. Jones won four more races., which were at Paul Ricard; Brands Hatch; Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the final round at Watkins Glen. Jones became the first of seven Williams drivers to win the driver's championship, 17 points ahead of Nelson Piquet's Brabham. Williams also won it's first constructor's championship, scoring 120 points, almost double the points second placed, Ligier.
1981
For the 1981 season,. The duo won four for the Williams team, Jones won at the first round at Long Beach and the final round at Las Vegas, while Carlos Reutemann won at the second round at Jacarepagua and the fifth round at Zolder. Williams won the conrtuctor's title for the second year running, scoring 95 points, 34 points more then second placed Brabham.
1982
For the 1982 season, Carlos Reutemann was to lose his seat to Brazilian Nelson Piquet and Jones retired from Formula One, only to come back a year later for Arrows as a one-off a year later. The Australian was replaced by Finnish driver, Keke Rosberg who won the Drivers title that year after winning only one race, which was in Switzerland. Frank was to soon realise that to compete at the top levels of Formula One he would need the support of a major manufacturer, such as Renault or BMW, to be able to compete.
Honda (1983-1988)
Related Article: Honda
1983
Frank Williams was to look towards Honda, who was developing its own turbo-charged V6 engine. The deal between Honda and Williams was finally settle early 1983 and the team would use the engines for the 1984 season. For the rest of the 1983 season, Williams used the Ford engine, where they finished fourth in the constructors championship, scoring 36 points and a win, which was Keke Rosberg's win at the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix.
1984
For the 1984 season Head designed the ungainly FW09. Keke Rosberg was able to score a victory in the United States Grand Prix at Dallas and managed to get second at the openin race in Brazil, Rosberg's team mate, Jacques Laffite, came 14th in the driver's championship, scoring 5 points. The team finished sixth with 25.5 points, while Rosberg eigth in the driver's championship.
1985
In 1985, Head designed the teams first carbon-fibre chassis, a technology pioneered by the McLaren team, the FW10. British driver Nigel Mansell joined the team to partner Rosberg. The team was to score four wins with Rosberg, winning in Detroit and Australia, and Mansell winning in the European Grand Prix and in South Africa. Williams finished third in the contructors championship, scoring 71 points. Frank Williams had taken his team to the upper heights of Formula One.
1986
The team was on a high, but in March 1986, Frank Williams was to face the most serious challenge of his life. While returning to airport at Nice, he was involved in a car accident which was to leave him paralysed. Williams was not to return to the pit lane for almost a year. Despite the lack of Frank's presence the team, in the 1986 season, would win 9 Grand Prixs and the Constructors Championship. Despite the fact that Williams had won the constructors Championship their engine partners were frustrated by the fact that neither Williams driver, Mansell or Piquet, did not win the drivers championship.
1987
The situation reached the point where the partnership between Honda and Williams was terminated at the end of the 1987 season. This was made even harder to understand when Nelson Piquet was to win the 1987 Drivers Championship, scoring 76 points and winning 3 races, while the Brazilian's teammate, Mansell, was 15 points behind him in second, who took 6 victories during the season. The Williams team finished as contuctor champions for the second year running, scoring 137 points, 61 points ahead of their nearest rivals McLaren.
1988
Williams was made to secure the resources to run Judd engines for the 1988 season. Piquet left Williams to join Lotus, who had secured the Honda engines for the 1988 season, Williams brought in Italian Riccardo Patrese. This season, achieved few decent results. The team did not win a single race that season. Williams finished seventh in the constructors championship, scoring 20 points.
Renault (1989-1997)
Related Article: Renault Sport
The team secured engine supply from Renault Sport in 1989. Renault engines subsequently powered Williams drivers to another four Drivers' Championships and five Constructors' Championships up until Renault's departure from Formula One at the end of 1997. The combination of Renault's powerful engine and Adrian Newey's design expertise led to a particularly dominant period in the mid 1990s. Mansell had a record breaking 1992 season winning the title in record time and leading many races from pole to finish. Some maintain that the Williams FW14B and FW15C were "the most technologically advanced cars that will ever race in Formula One". [1]
1989
The Renault era started in 1989, with Italian Riccardo Patrese and Belgian Thierry Boutsen. The engine's first grand prix in Brazil was one that the team would like to forget, with Boutsen retiring due to an engine failure and Patrese retired due to an alternator failure. The Williams renault team managed to get back on track with Boutsen coming fourth in the next race at Imola, earning the team three points in their championship campaign. Two races later at the Mexican Grand Prix, the team managed to achieve their first podium with the renault engine, thanks to Patrese came second, 15 seconds behind the race winner Ayrton Senna. The next race saw Patrese come second again, however the Italian did start from 14th on the grid, it then became better reading for Frank Williams as the other Williams driven by Boutsen came 6th. At the Sixth round it Canada, Williams not only score their first win with the Renault engine, but also their first 1-2, Thierry Boutsen came first followed by Patrese, 15 points for Williams' championship campain. Williams came second in the constructors championship, scoring 77 points in total; 64 points behind winners Mclaren. Patrese finished 3rd in the driver's championship with 40 points, 41 points behind the 1989 world champion, Alain Prost.
1990
In 1990, Williams kept Patrese and Boutsen as the teams' drivers. The team started better then the previous year, as Boutsen managed to finished in 3rd place and scoring four points for the team in Brazil. Despite winning the San Marino Grand Prix, Patrese struggled to finish the Williams in a decent position, however the Italian's team mate, Thierry Boutsen, managed to regulary finish in the points, he also managed to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, starting from pole position. Compared to their previous season, this year wasn't really a step forward for the team as they finished 2 places lower then last season, scoring 57 points, 30 points less then the previous season. Out of the two Williams drivers, it was Boutsen who finished highest in the drivers championship, coming sixth; scoring 34 points, 11 points more then his team mate Riccardo Patrese, who finished one place below him.
1991
Boutsen left Williams in 1991. His replacement was Britain's Nigel Mansell, Williams also recruited future 1996 world champion, Damon Hill, as one of their new test drivers. Despite the new signing, Both Williams drivers failed to finish in the first grand prix of the season at Phoenix, both drivers retired due to a gearbox problem. Patrese got back on track for the team in the next Grand Prix at Interlagos, coming second behind McLaren's Ayrton Senna. The 1991 San Marino Grand Prix was again the scene of both cars retiring, Mansell retired due to a collision, while Patrese retired due to electrical failure after completing 17 laps. The Grand Prix at Monaco saw Mansell finially finish in a points scoring position, coming second, 18 seconds behind the race winner Ayrton Senna. Two Grand Prix later in Mexico, Williams got their second one-two with the Renault engine, Patrese finishing ahead of Mansell to score 16 points for the Williams team. Williams then made in two consecutive victories, with Mansell winning the French Grand Prix, five seconds ahead of Alain Prost's Ferrari. Mansell then won again at the British Grand Prix, it had been four years since the last occasion when a Brit won the grand prix, the previous Brit to win it was Mansell back in 1987. Three consecutive victories became four, as Mansell won again in 1991, Patrese was about 10 seconds behind him in second place. Senna ended Williams run of victories by winning in Hungary, finishing five seconds ahead of Nigel Mansell. Mansell would later win the Italian Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix, while Patrese won the Portugese Grand Prix. Williams finished second in the constructors championship, scoring 125 points in total, 14 points behind McLaren. While Mansell finished second in the drivers championship, scoring 72 points, 24 points behind Senna.
1992
Williams would take a step up for the 1992 season, keeping their 1991 driver line up of Patrese and Mansell. Mansell dominated the first round in South Africa, qualifying in pole and winning the race by 24 seconds to his team mate Patrese. Williams would win the next four rounds at: Mexico City; Interlagos; Cataluya and Imola, with Nigel Mansell winning them all; Patrese coming second in all but one race, which was the Spanish Grand Prix, as the Italian span off and retired. Senna won the next race in Monaco, ahead of both Williams which finished in the remaining podium positions. The next race in Canada would be one of two races in which both Williams cars retired, Mansell spun off while Patrese had a gearbox failure, the second grand prix in which both Williams retired was the final round in Adelaide. Mansell went on to record four more Grand Prix wins, including one at the British Grand Prix. Williams won the constructors championship that year, with 164 points, 65 points more then second place McLaren. While Mansell became World Champion scoring 108 points, with Patrese finishing second with 56 points.
1993
[Nigel Mansell]] left the Williams team in 1993 for IndyCar racing, the team hired triple champion Alain Prost, and promoted test driver Damon Hill to replace Riccardo Patrese, who left to join Michael Schumacher at Benetton. The Williams was a dominant car, with active suspension and traction control systems beyond anything available to the other teams. [2] Prost won on his debut for the team in South Africa and like Mansell, dominated the weekend, taking pole position and finishing one minute ahead Senna, who finished second. The next Grand Prix in Brazil saw Prost retire on the first lap, while Hill would go on to record his first career podium, as he finished second, 16 seconds behind Senna. Williams would see Prost win three of the next four Grand Prix, Senna winning the other race. Prost and Hill later scored a 1-2 in France, which would be the only 1-2 of the season for Williams. Post would then win the next two Grand Prix at Silverstone and Hockenheim. Prost's team mate, Hill, hadn't really had a good first full season Formula One, until he won the next three Grand Prix at Hungary; Belgium and Italy. After Italy, Williams wouldn't win a Grand Prix for the rest of the season, with Senna taking victory in Japan and Australia, while a young Michael Schumacher won the following race in Portugal. Williams retained their constructor's title, 84 points ahead of second placed, McLaren. The Frenchman Prost, would take the driver's championship in his final year of Formula One, 26 points ahead of Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
1994
The signing of Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1994. During pre-season, bookies predicted that Senna would coast to the title. [3] The first four rounds were won by Michael Schumacher in the Benetton-Ford, one of them being in Imola, where Williams new signing, Ayrton Senna, died in an accident at the first corner after completing five laps, to many, this day was decribed by many as "F1's darkest day". [4] The race was re-started nearly an hour later. The repercussions of this fatal accident were severe for the team itself, as the Italian government tried to prosecute the team and Frank Williams through the Italian courts, an episode which wasn't over until 2005. [5] At the next race in Monaco, Damon Hill was the only Williams on the grid, this was done as a mark of respect to Senna, [6] the Brit retired on the first lap. The next race in Spain, Williams brough in test driver, David Coulthard, as Hill's new teammate. In the race itself, Hill won by almost half an minute over Schumacher's Benetton, while Coulthard would retire due to an electrical problem. In Canada, both Williams cars finished in the points for the first time that season, with Hill finishing second and Coulthard finishing fifth. Two rounds later, Damon Hill did something his father, Graham, never did, which was winning the British Grand Prix. Later during the season, Hill had a chance to get back at Schumacher in the championship, after the German was disqualified from first at Spa after the Stewards found floorboard irregularities on his Benetton. He banned for the next two races, in which Hill capitalised on with wins in Italy and a Williams 1-2 in Portugal. Schumacher would come back after his suspension for the European Grand Prix, which he won by about 25 seconds. By the penultimate round in Japan, Hill was 5 points behind Schumacher and if he didn't finished ahead of the German, it would be very unlikely that he'd take the title in the final round in Adelaide, however Hill did win, by three seconds to Schumacher who finished second and so to the final round in Adelaide, where Schumacher lead Hill by one point. Nigel Mansell would take pole for Williams, however he had a poor start which gave way for Hill and Schumacher to fight it out for the lead and the 1994 title. Mid way through the race, Schumacher's tactics for low aerodynamics, would cost him as he clipped the wall coming into the fifth corner and went wide. Hill, now right behind the Benetton, took the inside line for the following corner, the two collided and Schumacher was out of the race instantly, while Hill went into the pits in an attempt to try and get back into the race, as now he only needed to finish fifth to win the title. This wasn't to be the case as Williams couldn't repair the damage and Hill retired. To this day, many F1 fans in the UK believe that Schumacher did cause the accident intentially as the incident was one of the incidents shortlisted for the BBC's "Most Unsporting Moment Award", Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal for Argentina won the award. [7] Williams would end the season as contructors champions for the third consecutive year, scoring 118 points, while Hill finished second in the drivers championship with 91 points.
1995
In 1995, Nigel Mansell left Williams again, this time he moved to McLaren to leave Williams with Hill and Coulthard. At the first round in Brazil, Schumacher start off with a win, with Coulthard coming second. However, both were disqualified from the race after it was found that their fuel supplier, Elf, supplied the teams with a type of fuel that was different than the ones they gave to the FIA as samples. So Gerhard Berger and Ferrari were declared winners, until Schumacher and Coulthard had their positions reinstated after appeal, though Benetton and Williams were not awarded their constructors points. Hill won the next two races in Argentina and San Marino and would later win two more races, which were at The Hungaroring and in Adelaide. Coulthard would also record his only win for the Williams team, at Estoril, before moving to McLaren. Benetton would end Williams 4 year dominance after they won the championship 29 points ahead Williams. Hill would come second for the second year running, 33 points behind Schumacher.
1996
For 1996, Williams clearly had the quickest and most reliable car. [8] Coulthard had left Williams to join Mika Häkkinen at McLaren, Williams replaced the Scotsman with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, while Hill remained with the team. Schumacher left Benetton to join Ferrari. Williams won the first five Grand Prix, Hill winning all but one of them. Olivier Panis would take victory at the sicth round in Monaco after seriously wet conditions forced both Williams cars to retire. Hill would retire for the second time in a row after he spun off in Spain, while his team mate, Villeneuve, took third place. Hill and Villeneuve dominated the next Grand Prix in Canada, with a 1-2 in qualifying and a 1-2 in the race. Williams made it a second 1-2 after Hill won the Frech Grand Prix. Villeneuve won his second race in F1 at Silverstone after Hill retired after lap one. The Brit would be victorious in the next Grand Prix in Germany while Villeneuve would win the race after that in Hungary. Schumacher's Ferrari would then take the next two Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. Hill won the final race of the season in Japan to win the 1996 title.
1997
The final season of Williams-Renault saw the exit of world champion, Damon Hill, who left to join Arrows after his contract with the team expired. Frank Williams brought in German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, under the impression that he'd perform better then Hill. This move would turn out not be a good one as he only won one race in his two year spell at Williams, which was at 1997 San Marino Grand Prix. Jacques Villeneuve won seven races during the season, with his main rival, Michael Schumacher, winning five. Coming to the final round of the season at Jerez, Schumacher lead the Canadian by 1 point, however on lap 48, Schumacher and Villeneuve collided. Schumacher was disqualified as the accident was deemed by the FIA as "avoidable", [9] the German later admitted that he did try to take the Canadian out. Williams won the constructors title for the second time in a row, scoring 123 points, while Jacques Villeneuve won the driver's championship by three points to Michael Schumacher.
Mecachrome (1998-1999)
Related Article: Mecachrome
1998
After 1997, the team were unable to maintain their dominance in Formula 1 as Renault ended their full time involvement in Formula 1, and Adrian Newey moved to rival team McLaren. Williams then had to pay for Mecachrome engines, which were old; rebadged Renault engines. [10] From 1994 to 1997 the cars ran in the highly distinctive blue and white Rothmans livery, widely regarded as one of F1's most popular colour schemes. [11] There were changes on the sponsorship front however as Rothmans opted to promote their Winfield brand. [12] For 1998, Williams kept the two drivers from the previous season. The team took 3 podiums during the season, with Frentzen finishing in third at the first round in Australia and Villeneuve finishing third in Germany and Hungary. Williams finished third in the constructors championship, scoring 38 points, while Villeneuve finished fifth in the driver's championship with 21 points and his German team mate, Frentzen, finished 4 points behind him in seventh.
1999
In 1999, Williams employed a completely new driver line up, Villeneuve moved to new team, BAR and Frentzen moved to Jordan. Williams brought in German Ralf Schumacher and Italian Alex Zanardi. The team managed three podiums, all scored by Ralf Schumacher, with third place in Australia and Britain, along with a second place in Italy. The team finished fifth in the constructor's championship, the lowest finish for Williams in the 1990s; the team finished behind Stewart and Jordan; scoring 35 points, 3 less then the previous season.
BMW (2000-2005)
Related Article: BMW
2000
During 1998, the team signed a long term agreement with BMW, with the German manufacturer supplying engines and expertise for a period of 10 years. As part of the deal BMW expected at least one driver to be German and Ralf Schumacher was signed. In 1999, the team had a Williams car with a BMW engine testing at circuits, in preparation for a debut in 2000. Williams sought the services of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya as a proven racer for the up coming season season but he was initially unavailable, so Britain's Jenson Button made his debut instead.
BMW Williams' first season didn't see a single victory during the season, they did however, manage to get on the podium three times, Ralf Schumacher responsible for all three. Williams finished third in the constructor's championship, with 36 points; one more then last year. Ralf Schumacher finished fifth in the driver's championship, while Button, in his debut season, finished three places behind in eigth.
2001
In 2001 Button moved to Benetton-Renault due to Montoya's arrival at the team. The FW23 won four races, three by Ralf Schumacher at Imola; Montreal and his home Grand Prix in Germany. While his teammate, Montoya, was victorious at Monza. Williams' 2001 campain finished with a third place in the constructor's championship for the second year running.
2002
For 2002, Williams kept their 2001 driver line up for the upcoming season. The team only won one race, which was at Malaysia, in a year dominated by the Ferrari's of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. [13] Williams did improve on their constructor's championship position, finishing in second. Montoya finished third in the driver's championship, eight points ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who finished fourth.
2003
2003 would see BMW William reach their peak of success, during pre-season, Frank Williams was very confident that the FW25 would challenge for the title. [14] The team won four races, Montoya winning twice at Monaco and Germany, while Ralf Schumacher won at the Nürburgring and the following race at Magny-Cours. Montoya stayed in contention for the driver's championship during the season, the Colombian finished third in the championship, 11 points behind Michael Schumacher, while the younger Schumacher finished 24 points behind Montoya in fifth. Williams finished second in the constructor's championship, two points ahead of McLaren.
2004
At the start of the 2004 season it was announced that Montoya would be moving to McLaren in 2005. The team began the season with a radical nose-cone design, known as the "Walrus-Nose", that proved un-competitive and was replaced by a more conventional assembly in the second half of the year. Ferrari for the third time running, dominated the season, winning 15 of the 18 races, Williams did however pick upa win during the season, which was at the final race in Brazil, Juan Pablo Montoya winning the race by a second to Kimi Räikkönen's McLaren. Another memorable part of the season was when both Williams and Toyota were diqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix after it was dicovered that both cars had brake irregularities, the brake ducts seemingly not conforming to regulations. Williams finished the season in fourth, scoring 88 points and finishing on the podium six times. While Montoya was the highest placed Williams driver that year, finishing in fifth position; scoring 58 points.
2005
For the 2005 season, Schumacher moved to Toyota; while Montoya moved to McLaren. Taking their places were Australian Mark Webber and German Nick Heidfeld. [15][16] Initially Jenson Button was to have driven for Williams in 2005, [17] but an FIA ruling forced Button to remain with his current team BAR. [18] Nick Heidfeld competed with Brazillian test driver Antônio Pizzonia for the remaining racing seat during December 2004 and January 2005, and Heidfeld was chosen, [19] partly in preference to BMW's wishes for a German driver. Pizzonia served as the test driver for the team during the 2005 season. Meanwhile, Button signed a contract to drive for Williams in 2006.
During the course of the 2004 and 2005 F1 seasons, BMW Motorsport and director Mario Theissen increasingly became publicly critical of the WilliamsF1 team's inability to create a package capable of winning the constructors championship, or even multiple victories within a single season. [20] Williams, on the other hand, blamed BMW for not producing a good enough engine. Williams' failed attempt to prise Jenson Button out of his BAR contract may also have been an issue with Theissen, as his preference was to have at least one German driver in the team. Despite Frank Williams' rare decision to cave in to commercial demands by employing German driver Nick Heidfeld when he allegedly preferred Antônio Pizzonia, the fallout between BMW and Williams continued through the 2005 Formula One season. This public deterioration of the relationship between BMW and WilliamsF1 eventually resulted in the decision by BMW Motorsport to buy Sauber and rebrand that team to feature the BMW name. [21]
Williams could have opted to continue with BMW engines in 2006, despite the fact that the engine manufacturer was about to set up its own team. In the end, though, WilliamsF1 opted for Cosworth V8 engines for 2006.
This period saw Williams depart from the standard livery scheme in motorsport, which consists of one colour scheme, either the teams' or the major sponsors', with smaller logos in their own scheme. BMW stipulated that, and paid for, the whole vehicle to be in blue and white, with other sponsors adopting this scheme. Also in 2000, Williams abandoned tobacco advertising in favour of information technology companies, as the team's second major sponsor became Compaq. That sponsorship lasted until Compaq's acquisition by Hewlett-Packard. At the 2002 British Grand Prix, the team debuted the Hewlett-Packard sponsorship. After complaints about the HP logo on the rear wing it was replaced in 2003 with the sponsor's tag line, "Invent". One of the most memorable results of this technological partnership was a worldwide television commercial featured drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya seemingly driving their BMW Williams cars around a track by radio control from a grandstand. [22]
This "clean" image allowed Williams to sign a cigarette anti-craving brand, Niquitin, [23] and Anheuser-Busch, alternating with the Budweiser beer brand [24] and Sea World Adventure Parks, [25] in compliance with trademark disputes or alcohol bans.
Cosworth (2006-Present)
Related Article: Cosworth
2006
In late 2005, WilliamsF1 and Cosworth announced a partnership agreement for the 2006 season where Cosworth will supply WilliamsF1 with engines, transmissions and associated electronics and software. [26] Cosworth have more experience in building V8 racing engines required by the 2006 Formula One regulations, than any other current F1 engine manufacturer and also have some history with Williams, being the engine suppler that the team started out with, and won the 1980 and 1982 championships with. On September 14, 2005 it was announced that the long running sponsorship agreement between WilliamsF1 and Hewlett Packard (HP) would be concluded one year before the official end of the contract.
Although neither Williams or HP offered any reason for the early termination some observers have speculated the loss of the title sponsor may be a result of continuing uncertainty over driver lineup for 2006. Despite having signed a contract to race for Williams, Jenson Button decided that he would prefer to stay with BAR for 2006 as it was to become a Honda works team. In September 2005 a deal was reached to allow Button to remain with BAR, with Williams receiving around £24m, some of it paid by Jenson himself, to cancel this contract.
Current Williams sponsors are Anheuser-Busch (with Budweiser or SeaWorld Adventure Parks, depending on the race, as some countries have trademark disputes over the Budweiser brand, or in Bahrain, Turkey, and France, a ban on alcohol advertising), Royal Bank of Scotland, or Allianz. Williams introduced a new interim livery for use during Winter testing - the car was predominantely midnight blue, and featured the white chevrons used as a logo on Frank Williams Racing cars in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Remaining Williams sponsors such as Petrobras and FedEx were all represented on the interim livery. Williams have also announced that Dutch giant Philips will join the team as a sponsor for 2006, although the amount for this deal has not been reported. TATA is also another sponsor of the team. The Indian car company signed a contract several hours after Narain Karthikeyan was announced as test driver.
Mark Webber is under contract to the team for 2006, and will remain. He will be partnered by Nico Rosberg (son of Keke), who said that his main goal was to win the world title with Williams one day. [27] Williams are entitled to use a third car on the Friday of a race weekend because they finished lower than 4th in the Constructor's Championship in 2005. On the 2nd of January, the team confirmed that Alexander Wurz became the team's official test and reserve driver for the 2006 season. Williams tried a number of drivers for that role during the winter testing in 2005 including Andy Priaulx and Narain Karthikeyan but opted for Wurz who brought a lot of experience having raced with Benetton for four years and filling the official test driver role for McLaren from 2001 until 2005. On the 27th of January, the team announced the signing of Narain Karthikeyan as the team's fourth driver for 2006. [28]
Although they aren't using BMW engines, Cosworth engines are running better than the team expected, [29] the team shows more strong and competitive than the new BMW Sauber team. Driver Nico Rosberg scored 2 points by finishing 7th at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, being his first Grand Prix, and at the same event he made the fastest lap. Meanwhile Mark Webber scored also 3 points finishing 6th, in front of Rosberg. Alex Wurz, the another driver of Williams is also making good performances finishing on the first three positions in the free practice sessions.
Other Motorsport
Williams has been involved in a few motorsport activities outside Formula One.
- In 1980 Williams were commissioned by Rover to create a Rally car from the Metro hatchback. They shoe-horned a V6 engine (a completely new design, not at all based on the Rover V8 engine as is sometimes stated) to create the 4 wheel drive, mid-engined Metro 6R4, to the international Group B rallying regulations. Williams developed the car in just six months.
- Williams, under the name Williams Touring Car Engineering, also ran Renault's team for the British Touring Car Championship from 1995-1999. The Renault Laguna based cars were produced at Williams' Didcot factory (the Formula One team having recently moved to new premises at Grove). The touring car venture was very successful, Williams-Renault won the Manufacturers title in 1995 and 1997 and the BTCC drivers title with Alain Menu in 1997.
- Prior to their F1 partnership, Williams built a Le Mans racecar for BMW, the BMW V12. This won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999. The car was driven by Pierluigi Martini; Yannick Dalmas and Joachim Winkelhock.
- As part of their partnership with Renault, several RenaultSport models of their Clio range have been branded with the "Williams" marque.
External links
Footnotes
- ^ The changing face of F1 news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2006
- ^ Interview - Frank Williams (1 July, 1993) GrandPrix.Com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ Formula One History: After Tamburello F1-GrandPrix.com/History. Retrieved 13 June 2006
- ^ On This Day: 1st May news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Top designers acquitted on Senna news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ WilliamsF1.com > Seasons > 1994 WilliamsF1.com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ Most unsporting moment? news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ GP.Com > Features > News Feature > Review of 1996 [http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ft00244.html GrandPrix.com
- ^ Review of 1997 GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ News Feature > Mecachrome GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ 1999 - Color In Sport ssur.org.. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ Technical > FW20 GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ Schumacher paints F1 red news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Williams launch new car news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Webber signs to BMW WilliamsF1 Castrol.com. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ BMW sign Heidfeld for new F1 team news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 13 2006
- ^ Williams firm on Button news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Williams: BAR can have Button but... Crash.Net. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Williams give Heidfeld more time news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ BMW: Williams must improve news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ BMW buys Sauber to form own team news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Hewlett-Packard Corporate- HP Technology and BMW Williams F1 Team Visit4Info.com. Retrieved 19 July 2006
- ^ GlaxoSmithKline Gsk.com. Retrieved 19 July 2006
- ^ Anheuser-Busch, Inc.: Budweiser sponsors BMW WilliamsF1 Team prnewswire.co.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2006
- ^ SeaWorld Adventure Parks To Be Featured With BMW WilliamsF1 Team Anheuser-Busch.com. Retrieved 19 July 2006
- ^ Williams turn to Cosworth engines news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Rosberg lines up F1 world title news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2006
- ^ Karthikeyan given Williams role news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2006
- ^ Daily F1 News DailyF1News.com. Retrieved 14 July 2006
References
Williams History (1967-2000) Taken from:
All Formula One race and championship results are taken from:
- Formula1.com - 1975-Present Achive. Retrieved 12 July 2006