HISTORIA

Founded in 1968, Williams Grand Prix engineering became a force to reckoned with in 1979 with the introduction of the first Patrick Head designed chassis, the Ford powered FW07. Clay Regazzoni almost claimed the teams first victory at Monaco in the same year, finishing second, just half a second behind the Ferrari of Jody Scheckter. The team regrouped, winning the British Grand Prix, quickly followed by three straight victories and second in the constructors championship.

1980 brought the team their first driver’s championship with Alan Jones, as well as teams first constructors title. In 1981 Piquet piped both Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones to the drivers championship, but once again Williams won the constructors title. Keke Rosberg won just one race for the Williams team in 1982, in what turned out to be a classic season. The one victory was enough to give Rosberg the Championship.

McLaren dominated the middle section of the 1980’s with their Porsche powered, John Barnard designed chassis. Williams lean spell ended thanks to Honda Turbo power, providing Nelson Piquet with the opportunity to claim his third and final championship, ahead of Nigel Mansell in 1987. By 1988 Nelson Piquet had taken Honda engines with him to Lotus. Williams failed to win a race with their Judd powered chassis. As usual Frank Williams had everything under control, despite the loss at the end of the season, of Mansell to Ferrari.

Rio de Janeiro 1989, the first race of the season, saw Ricardo Patrese lead for the first time in a Renault powered Williams. Although Patrese failed to beat Alan Prost in his McLaren Honda, it signalled that Williams were back. However, it was not until the return in 1991 of Nigel Mansell, that Williams provided a season long challenge to McLaren. Indeed Mansell won the championship the following year, with a record number of wins. Mansell left the team to try his hand (very successfully) at Indycar (CART) racing, which made way very nicely for Alan Prost to win the championship in 1993 with Williams.

Frank Williams signed Ayrton Senna to drive the team in 1994, effectively pushing Alan Prost in to retirement. Senna never scored a point for the team, an accident at the third round of the championship at San Marino claiming the life of the arguably greatest driver ever in the Formula. While Williams regroupedDavis Coulthard was promoted from the team’s testing role to support Damon Hill in his bid for the championship. Michael Schumacher and the Benetton team were however completely unstoppable in 1994 and 1995, claiming the championship in each year.

Damon Hill finally won the championship after a superb season in1996. For 1997 Jacques Villeneuve took over as the team’s great hope with the main challenge coming once again from Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. All did not seem to be going to plan, until a late charge from Villeneuve in the latter part of the season, saw the Canadian claim yet another championship for Williams. Despite this, 1997 could have saw the end of the accustomed Williams domination. The works Renault engine deal expired at the end of 1997, as the French manufacturer left the series and former designer Adrian Newey joined McLaren. The FW20 chassis was designed by senior designer Gavin Fisher and aerodynamicist Geoff Willis, while Williams moved to customer [ex-Renault] Mecachrome engines for 1998 and 1999, before joining forces with BMW in 2000.

As predicted, 1998 was something of a year to get through for the Williams team. The team suffered from their most uncompetitive season for a decade and failed to win a race. For champion Villeneuve, this was a bitter pill to swallow - as the Canadian scored just 20 championship points and had just two podium placings to show for efforts. By the end of the season, both Villeneuve and Heinz Harald Frentzen had decided to leave the team for British American Racing and Jordan respectively. For 1999, Williams took the brave decision to hire Ralph Schumacher from Jordan and have enticed CART champion Alessandro Zanardi from Ganassi Racing.

The FW21 certainly looks the part, and the driver partnership is potentially exciting. However after just four races of the 1999 season it is apparent that the Supertec v10 engine is not up to the job. On top of this the fledging British American racing team have produced some impressive qualifying performances to put the Williams chassis under scrutiny. Alex Zanardi has not reproduced his CART performance and has generally look out of his depth. For the Italian it will undoubtedly take time to re-adjust to the series,. but Frank Williams and Patrick head are not famed for their patience. Ralf Schumacher on the other hand has produced some stunning drives. The season will undoubtedly be a holding year for the Grove based team, with BMW V10 engines on their way for the 2000 championship. Initial testing of the German engines has however been a little disappointing. It may be some time before Williams make it back to the top

* Champion