The Prestige and History of Williams in Formula 1

By Joe Murphy

When you see the name of F1 Team Williams, the history and prestige comes across unlike that of any other constructor. Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited as their full name are a British Formula One motor racing team founded by former team owner, the late and great Frank Williams, along with automotive engineer Patrick Head.

Founded in 1977, their first race was the Spanish Grand Prix of that year. They have been a mainstay ever since. All Williams F1 cars over the last 50 years or so adopt the initials “FW” followed by a number, the FW being the initials of the team’s founder.

They have success with Renault engines but as of this moment, they are running with a Mercedes engine and this weekend in Imola, will amass their 770th race entry, with more surely to follow. In their history, the team have won a previous record of nine Constructor’s World Titles, including five within the space of six years from 1992 to 1997. To add to this already impressive list, they have won seven Drivers Championships. Across the years, Williams have fluctuated across the grid, and more recently have been a feature towards the back of the midfield or, even, outright last. Despite this dip in results, Williams have still managed 114 race wins, 313 podiums and 128 Pole Positions.

Drivers for Williams have included the likes of Piquet, Button, Hill, Patrese, Mansell, Coulthard, Montoya and Villeneuve. Moreover, two of the sports all time greats in the form of Senna and Prost have donned Williams attire. Bad news for George Russell’s championship dream is that no driver has ever won a World Title after leaving Williams.

More recently in 2020, Williams announced they were seeking buyers for a portion of the team due to a poor financial performance partly down to the breakdown with main sponsor RoKiT terminated On 21 August 2020, Williams officially left the family ownership era as it was acquired by Dorilton Capital.

Frank and daughter Claire stepped down from their management roles on 6 September 2020, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being their last time they were involved directly, in any capacity.

After illustrating signs of promise over the last couple of seasons, following a disasterous spell a few years ago, the future is starting to look brighter for the British Constructor. A shock podium in Spa last season was something that all the team were all desperate for and there is no reason why they couldn’t use this result as a platform going forward. It won’t be easy, and could take a number of years, but in the future, you will see Williams take their place at the pinnacle of motorsport, again.