The Stats
FIRST GP: 1975 | GPS: 822 | Titles: 9 | WINS: 114 | POLES: 128 | PODIUMS: 313
| Full Team Name | Williams Racing |
| Base | Grove, UK |
| Team Principal | James Vowles |
| Technical Director | Pat Fry |
| Chassis | Williams FW46 |
| Engine | Mercedes-AMG F1 M15 |
| First Podium | Germany 75 | Laffite |
| First Win | Britain 79 | Regazzoni |
| Last Win | Spain 12 | Maldonado |
| Last Podium | Belgium 21 | Russell |
| Most Successful Track | Hockenheimring, Germany | 9 wins, 6 x 2nd, 6 x 3rd |
The Drivers
Alexander Albon
AGE: 28 | GPS: 101 | CHAMP. BEST: 7th | RACE BEST: 3rd | Grid BEST: 4th | Podiums: 2
Franco Colapinto
AGE: 21 | GPS: 6 | CHAMP. BEST: n/a | RACE BEST: 8th | Grid BEST: 8th
The Bio
Frank Williams started the current Williams team in 1977 after his previous outfit, Frank Williams Racing Cars, failed to achieve the success he desired. Patrick Head designed his first Williams car a year later and Alan Jones was hired as the new lead driver. That combination proved increasingly successful, with a first podium in 1978, a first win in 1979 and a first championship in 1980.
Another title followed in 1982 for Keke Rosberg, despite the Finn winning only one race all season. After a mediocre spell, 1986 saw the team produce the best car in the field and take the Constructors’ Championship. It was very much a mixed year, however. Nigel Mansell was denied the Drivers’ Championship by a dramatic tyre failure at the final round and Frank Williams was sadly left paralysed after a road accident.
Mansell was again denied the following year, but this time by his teammate, Nelson Piquet, and Williams earned a championship double. At the end of the year, Honda left the team for McLaren and the Judd engines which Williams had to settle for saw their competitiveness take a hit.
But not for long, as the 1990s would largely be their decade. Mansell finally won a championship in the dominant 1992 car, before Alain Prost replaced him and took his fourth and final title a year later. 1994 saw another megastar join the team in Ayrton Senna, but tragedy struck at the San Marino Grand Prix. Senna’s car left the track at Tamburello and, upon impact with the wall, a suspension arm broke off and hit his head, killing him instantly. The team battled on, only for a controversial move by Michael Schumacher to deny Damon Hill the title at the final race of the year.
1996 saw Hill right the wrongs, claiming the championship in another dominant Williams car, and Jacques Villeneuve survived another controversial Schumacher collision a year later to take what would prove to be the most recent title for Williams. The team gradually fell down the pecking order in the 2000s and were firmly in the midfield when Pastor Maldonado took a freak victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012.
The hybrid era saw a brief resurgence in form, but the team hit their nadir in the last couple of years with the slowest car on the grid and no points scored last season. There are signs for a more positive future, though, with the sale of the team to Dorilton Capital.
The decision of the Williams family to step aside was tough but ultimately necessary as they now look to a new beginning, which started more positively with an unlikely podium and eighth in the constructors’ standings in 2021.
The Photos
