Williams Racing is one of the most historic Formula 1 teams still on the grid. It is based in Grove, Oxfordshire, on a 60-acre site where the late Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head founded the team in 1977. The team was formed after Frank Williams’ previous unsuccessful F1 teams, Frank Williams Racing Cars and later Wolf–Williams Racing, were unsuccessful in the 1976 season.
Current Williams Drivers
23
Alexander
Albon
2019 Australian Grand Prix F1 Debut
Williams Current/Last Team
Franco
Colapinto
2024 Italian Grand Prix F1 Debut
Williams Current/Last Team
Full Team Name: Williams Racing
Base: Grove, United Kingdom
Team Chief: James Vowles
Technical Chief: Pat Fry
First Team Entry: 1978
World Championships: 9
The team’s debut race as a non-constructor was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix, where they ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève. The following year, Williams started manufacturing its own cars, where they made their first entry as an offical constructor at the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix. The team’s first win came at the 1979 British Grand Prix with Clay Regazzoni behind the wheel.
Williams went on to win nine Constructors’ Championships between 1980 and 1997, a record until Ferrari won its tenth championship in 2000. They are also one of only five teams in Formula 1, alongside Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull Racing, to win 100 races, with Jacques Villeneuve scoring the team’s 100th race victory at the 1997 British Grand Prix.
Over the decades, Williams has had a long list of notable drivers, including Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Riccardo Patrese, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve. Of these drivers, Jones, Rosberg, Mansell, Hill, Piquet, Prost, and Villeneuve won the Drivers’ Championship with the team. Only Jones, Rosberg, and Villeneuve defended their title while still with the team. Strangely, none of the Drivers’ Champions with Williams have gone on to win another championship after their success with Williams.
Since 1977, Williams has collaborated with various engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault, winning five of their nine Constructors’ titles.
Along with Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton, and Renault, Williams is one of the five teams that won every Constructors’ Championship between 1979 and 2008 and every Drivers’ Championship from 1984 to 2008.
Away from Formula 1, Williams also has business interests in other areas, such as Williams Advanced Engineering and Williams Hybrid Power, which take technology developed for Formula One and adapt it for commercial use.
After a poor financial year in 2019, Williams announced in May 2020 that they were seeking buyers for a portion of the team and terminated their contract with title sponsor ROKiT. Later that year, on 21 August 2020, Dorilton Capital acquired the team. Just weeks later, on 6 September 2020, Frank and Claire Williams stepped down from their roles within the team, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being their last in their respective positions. Claire Williams had been offered the chance to remain as Team Principal, but she declined. The race marked the first time the Williams F1 Team competed without the Williams family’s leadership since it was founded 43 years earlier.
In Claire’s place, Simon Roberts, who had joined Williams from McLaren earlier in the year, took on the role of acting team principal. Later, in December 2020, Williams announced the appointment of Jost Capito as the new CEO, with Roberts officially assuming the position of team principal and reporting to Capito. This role was short-lived, and halfway through the following season, in June 2021, Simon Roberts departed from the team. Following his departure, most of his responsibilities were assumed by Jost Capito, while François-Xavier Demaison took over his trackside leadership duties.
Another leadership change occurred again at the start of the 2023 season, with James Vowles taking over as the team’s new Principal. Vowles brought experience from his title-winning years with Mercedes, where he was the team’s chief strategist.
Starting from the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Williams announced that Franco Colapinto would race for the team during the remaining nine races of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship. He became the 49th Grand Prix driver for Williams Racing, the first Argentine driver in F1 in 23 years, and the second Argentine to race for the British team, following Carlos Reutemann. He replaced Logan Sargeant after a series of poor performances.
Williams Drivers’ Champions
The following drivers won the Formula One Drivers’ Championship for Williams F1.
| Driver | Nationality | Championship Year |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Jones | Australian | 1980 |
| Keke Rosberg | Finnish | 1982 |
| Nelson Piquet | Brazilian | 1987 |
| Nigel Mansell | British | 1992 |
| Alain Prost | French | 1993 |
| Damon Hill | British | 1996 |
| Jacques Villeneuve | Canadian | 1997 |
