Misplaced Pages

#453546

148-460: Williams Racing , legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited , is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (1942–2021) and Patrick Head . The team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams's earlier unsuccessful F1 operation, Frank Williams Racing Cars (which later became Wolf–Williams Racing in 1976). The team is based in Grove, Oxfordshire , on

296-486: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and

444-665: A 60-acre (24 ha) site. The team's first race was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix , where the new team ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève . Williams started manufacturing its own cars the following year, and Clay Regazzoni won Williams's first race at the 1979 British Grand Prix . At the 1997 British Grand Prix , Jacques Villeneuve scored the team's 100th race victory, making Williams one of only five teams in Formula One, alongside Ferrari , McLaren , Mercedes , and Red Bull Racing to win 100 races. Williams won nine Constructors' Championships between 1980 and 1997 . This

592-627: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were

740-518: A brand ambassador for WAE Technologies, an R&D off-shoot of the racing team. Claire Williams was born in 1976 in Windsor , Berkshire . She is the daughter of Sir Frank Williams and Lady Virginia Williams. She graduated from Newcastle University in 1999 with a degree in politics. After graduation, Williams became a press officer for the Silverstone racing circuit . In 2002, she joined

888-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of

1036-628: A female ambassadors in schools initiative, supported the UK government's Women in Innovation scheme, created workplace opportunities for minority groups, promoted STEM subjects for female students and increased the proportion of women at Williams to 17.6%, the highest in the F1 paddock. She was also a patron of F1 in Schools and an ambassador for Dare to be Different . Williams was appointed Officer of

1184-482: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed

1332-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with

1480-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and

1628-636: A new record for the most wins by a single driver in one year. Despite this, there looked to be significant upheaval at Williams for 1993; what followed led to a domino effect that had not only effects on the World Championship, but also the CART -sanctioned PPG IndyCar Series . Williams was interested in signing Alain Prost to drive one of its two cars for 1993 as he was returning from his year long sabbatical after being sacked by Scuderia Ferrari during

SECTION 10

#1732791366454

1776-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans

1924-470: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into

2072-782: A race that season and finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 20 points. The highlights of the season for the team were two second-place finishes by Mansell. When Mansell was forced to miss two races due to illness, he was replaced by Martin Brundle for Belgium and Jean-Louis Schlesser for Italy. Schlesser's collision with Ayrton Senna in that race would deny McLaren a clean sweep of race wins that season. The team secured Renault as their engine supplier in 1989. Renault engines subsequently powered Williams's drivers to another four Drivers' and five Constructors' Championships up until Renault's departure from Formula One at

2220-516: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing

2368-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at

2516-597: A second 1–2 after Hill won the French Grand Prix . Villeneuve won his second race in F1 at Silverstone after Hill retired with a wheel bearing failure on lap 26. Hill was victorious in the next Grand Prix in Germany while Villeneuve won the race after that in Hungary . Schumacher's Ferrari would then take the next two Grands Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza . Villeneuve mounted a title challenge going into

2664-613: A single point the previous year. He won the Drivers' title that year despite winning only one race, the Swiss Grand Prix . Rosberg's teammate, Reutemann , finished in 15th place having quit Formula One after just two races of the new season. His seat was filled by Mario Andretti for the United States Grand Prix West ; before Derek Daly took over for the rest of the year. Williams finished fourth in

2812-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make

2960-620: 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 position and winning the race by 24 seconds from his teammate, Patrese. Nigel Mansell won the next four rounds for Williams, at Mexico City , Interlagos , Catalunya and Imola , Patrese coming second in all but one (the Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya, where he retired after spinning off). Mansell's five victories in

3108-565: A team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from the World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula

SECTION 20

#1732791366454

3256-488: A technical director (rather than just chief designer), but this was not possible at Williams, as Patrick Head was a founder and shareholder of the team. McLaren lured Newey away, though he was forced to take garden leave for the majority of 1997. Formula One This is an accepted version of this page Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by

3404-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,

3552-582: A type of fuel for which samples had not been provided to the FIA . Thus, Gerhard Berger and Ferrari were declared winners. 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 races at The Hungaroring and in Adelaide . Hill won two laps ahead of

3700-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for

3848-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to

3996-463: Is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II , a number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace

4144-500: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at

4292-400: Is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With the average annual cost of running

4440-534: Is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which

4588-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter

Williams Racing - Misplaced Pages Continue

4736-726: The 1991 season. Replacing him was a returning Nigel Mansell , who had spent the previous two seasons driving for Ferrari . Williams also recruited future 1996 world champion, Damon Hill , as their reserve driver. Williams failed to finish the first Grand Prix of the season, the US Grand Prix , with both drivers retiring due to gearbox problems. 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 saw both cars retiring yet again: with Mansell crashing and Patrese suffering from an electrical failure. The Monaco Grand Prix saw Mansell finish in

4884-776: The 1996 championship. None of Williams's Drivers' Champions went on to win another championship after their success with Williams. Williams have worked with many engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault , winning five of their nine Constructors' titles with the company. Along with Ferrari , McLaren , Benetton and Renault , Williams is one of a group of five teams that won every Constructors' Championship between 1979 and 2008 and every Drivers' Championship from 1984 to 2008. Williams also has business interests beyond Formula One. They have established Williams Advanced Engineering and Williams Hybrid Power, who take technology originally developed for Formula One and adapt it for commercial applications. In April 2014, Williams Hybrid Power

5032-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming

5180-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as

5328-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of

5476-603: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced

5624-667: The Austrian Grand Prix the previous season for a devastated Shadow team following the death of their lead driver, Tom Pryce . Jones's first race for the team was the Argentine Grand Prix where he qualified in 14th position but retired after 36 laps due to a fuel system failure. The team scored its first championship points two races later at the South African Grand Prix when Jones finished in fourth. Williams earnt their first podium at

5772-498: The Austrian Grand Prix , finishing half a minute ahead of Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari. Three wins in a row became four two weeks later at the Dutch Grand Prix , with Alan Jones winning yet again by a comfortable margin over Jody Scheckter 's Ferrari. Scheckter ended Williams's winning streak when he won the Italian Grand Prix ; with Regazzoni finishing third behind Scheckter and Villeneuve. Alan Jones managed another win at

5920-632: The Brazilian Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix . Williams won the Constructors' title for the second year in a row, scoring 95 points, 34 points more than second-placed Brabham. This season, Alan Jones retired from Formula One (though he would come back a year later for a single race with the Arrows team). The Australian was replaced by Keke Rosberg , the father of 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg . Rosberg had not scored

6068-510: The British Grand Prix . (In the final round, in Adelaide , the two Williams cars again retired, Mansell after Senna violently crashed into the back of him, and Patrese with electrical problems.) Williams won the Constructors' Championship with 164 points, 65 points more than second-place McLaren. Mansell became World Champion, scoring 108 points, with Patrese finishing second with 56 points. Placing first in nine races, Mansell had set

Williams Racing - Misplaced Pages Continue

6216-594: The British Grand Prix . Hill closed the points gap with Schumacher, who was disqualified from first at Spa after the Stewards found floorboard irregularities on his Benetton. He was banned for the next two races, and Hill capitalised on this with wins in Italy and a Williams 1–2 in Portugal . With three races left, 1992 champion Nigel Mansell returned from CART (where the season had concluded) to replace Coulthard for

6364-473: The Drivers' title with the team. Of those who have won the championship with Williams, only Jones, Rosberg and Villeneuve defended their title while still with the team; as Piquet moved to Lotus after winning the 1987 championship; Mansell left F1 to compete in the CART series after winning the 1992 championship, Prost retired after winning the 1993 championship, and Hill moved to Arrows after winning

6512-598: The FW07 chassis and gearbox for the 1979 season with Frank Dernie picking up the suspension, aerodynamic development and skirt design. This was the team's first ground effect car, a technology that was first introduced by Colin Chapman and Team Lotus . Williams also obtained membership of the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) which expressed a preference for teams to run two cars, so Jones

6660-479: 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 a Briton had won the Grand Prix, Mansell having won it in 1987 . Three consecutive victories became four when Mansell won again in Germany , with Patrese about 10 seconds behind him in second place. Senna ended Williams's run of victories by winning in Hungary , finishing five seconds ahead of Mansell. Mansell later won

6808-568: The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system

6956-500: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through

7104-655: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing

7252-561: The Italian Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix , while Patrese won the Portuguese Grand Prix after Mansell's race was ruined by a botched pitstop in which only three wheel nuts were fitted. Williams finished second in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 125 points in total, 14 points behind McLaren. Mansell finished second in the Drivers' Championship with 72 points, 24 points behind Senna. Williams took

7400-470: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through

7548-658: The Mexican Grand Prix , the team managed to achieve their first podium with the Renault engine, as Patrese finished second, 15 seconds behind Ayrton Senna in first. The next race saw Patrese finish second again, having started from 14th on the grid, with Boutsen finishing in 6th. At the sixth round in Canada , Williams not only scored their first win with the Renault engine but also their first one-two: with Boutsen finishing in first followed by Patrese in second. This won

SECTION 50

#1732791366454

7696-479: The South African Grand Prix . Williams finished in third in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 71 points. During qualifying for the British Grand Prix , Rosberg completed a lap of the circuit in 1:05.591. The lap's average speed was 160.938 mph (259.005 km/h). This was the fastest recorded lap in Formula One history to that point. From 1985 until 1993, Williams ran their famous yellow, blue and white Canon livery. In March 1986, Frank Williams faced

7844-596: The United States Grand Prix , where Jones came second, 20 seconds behind the Ferrari of Carlos Reutemann . Williams finished the season in ninth place in the Constructors' Championship, with a respectable 11 points, while Alan Jones finished 11th in the Drivers' Championship. Towards the end of 1978, Frank Williams recruited Frank Dernie to join Patrick Head in the design office. Head designed

7992-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres - mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 - otherwise they cannot participate in

8140-530: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in

8288-592: The 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over

8436-405: The 1980s. In the 1990 season, Williams kept Patrese and Boutsen as the team's drivers. The team scored 20 fewer points than the previous year and finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship two positions lower than in 1989. In the Drivers' Championship, Boutsen finished sixth with 34 points and Patrese in seventh with 23 points. Boutsen left Williams and joined Ligier at the start of

8584-402: The 1991 World Championship. Patrese, perhaps figuring that he would be the driver being sacked in order for Prost to take one of the two available rides, decided to leave after driving for Williams since 1987. He would join up with Benetton, where he would replace Martin Brundle alongside Michael Schumacher in the team's Camel -backed Fords. Mansell, meanwhile, was not pleased that Williams

8732-519: The 1992 season, to join Prost in the other Renault. The Williams FW15C was an extremely dominant car, with active suspension and traction control systems beyond anything available to the other teams. Prost won on his debut for the team in South Africa and, like Mansell, dominated the weekend, taking pole position and finishing a minute ahead of Senna , who was second. The next Grand Prix in Brazil saw Prost collide with Christian Fittipaldi's Minardi in

8880-470: The 1993 championship and subsequent retirement. Hill retained the number 0, while Senna's car was issued number 2. Pre-season testing showed the FW16 had speed but was difficult to drive. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) had banned electronic driver's aids, such as active suspension , traction control and ABS , to make the sport more "human". It was these technological advancements that

9028-538: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of

SECTION 60

#1732791366454

9176-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to

9324-626: The British driver's left-rear tyre blew at the Australian Grand Prix , the final race of the season, while his fellow championship rival and new teammate, Nelson Piquet made a pitstop shortly after Mansell's retirement as a precaution. This left Alain Prost to defend his title successfully, despite being in a slower car. The 1987 season brought the Williams-Honda partnership its first and only Drivers' Championship title in

9472-560: The Constructors' Championship that year, 16 points behind first-place Ferrari . Frank Williams looked towards Honda, who was developing a turbocharged V6 engine with Spirit . A deal between Honda and Williams was settled early in 1983 and the team used the engines for the 1984 season. For the 1983 season however, Williams continued to use the Ford engine except for the last race of the year in South Africa ; where Keke Rosberg finished in an impressive fifth place. The team finished fourth in

9620-513: The Constructors' Championship, scoring 36 points. Also, Rosberg won that year's Monaco Grand Prix . For the 1984 season, the team ran an FW09 . Keke Rosberg won the Dallas Grand Prix and finished in second at the opening race in Brazil . Rosberg's new teammate, Jacques Laffite , came 14th in the Drivers' Championship with five points. The team finished sixth in the Constructors' with 25.5 points, with Rosberg finishing in eighth in

9768-416: The Drivers' Championship with 91 points. In 1995 , Nigel Mansell was not retained, Williams favouring Coulthard over him to partner Hill . Schumacher , whose Benetton team had switched engine suppliers from Ford to Renault in the off-season, won the first round in Brazil , with Coulthard taking second. However, both were disqualified from the race after it was found that Elf supplied their teams with

9916-577: The Drivers' Championship, 17 points ahead of Nelson Piquet 's Brabham . Williams also won its first Constructors' Championship, scoring 120 points, almost twice as many as second-placed Ligier . Williams won four races in 1981 . Alan Jones won the first race of the season, the United States West Grand Prix , and the final race of the season, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix . Meanwhile, Carlos Reutemann won

10064-530: The Drivers' Championship, 33 points behind Benetton's Michael Schumacher. For 1996 , Williams had the quickest and most reliable car, the FW18 . Coulthard had left Williams to join Mika Häkkinen at McLaren, and Williams replaced him with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve , who had won the CART series title in 1995, while Hill remained with the team. Schumacher left Benetton to join Ferrari . Williams won

10212-592: The Drivers' Championship. In 1985 , Head designed the FW10 , the team's first chassis to employ the carbon-fibre composite technology pioneered by McLaren. Nigel Mansell replaced Laffite to partner with Rosberg. Dernie produced another competitive aerodynamic package. The team scored four wins with Rosberg winning the Detroit and Australian Grands Prix , and Mansell won the European Grand Prix and

10360-586: The European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won

10508-446: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023

10656-421: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under

10804-582: The Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Formula 1 racing in the 2016 Birthday Honours. Faced with the economic impact of the pandemic plus commercial terms that increasingly favoured the big teams, Williams was forced to put the team up for sale in order to secure its future, subsequently selling to private investment firm Dorilton in August 2020. On 3 September 2020, Williams announced she

10952-557: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at

11100-665: The Williams F1 team as a Communications Officer and became Head of Communications in 2010. In March 2011, she took on the position of Head of Investor Relations to supplement her role in the communications team, playing a lead role as Williams moved from private to public ownership through listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2011. In 2012, she was promoted to Director of Marketing & Communications. When Frank Williams stepped down in March 2012, Claire became

11248-617: The Williams chassis of the previous years had been built around. With their removal in 1994, Williams had not been a good-handling car, as observed by other F1 drivers, having been seen to be very loose at the rear. Senna himself had made numerous comments that the Williams FW16 had quirks that needed to be ironed out. It was obvious that the FW16, after the regulation changes banning active suspension and traction control, exhibited none of

11396-417: The Williams family representative on the board. In March 2013, she was appointed deputy team principal of the Williams F1 racing team. In this role, she was de facto team boss and assumed the day-to-day running of the team from her father. Taking over after some of the worst years in the team's history, Williams replaced the race drivers, signing Felipe Massa alongside Valtteri Bottas and restructuring

11544-513: The Williams–Head partnership. Williams entered a March 761 for the 1977 season. Lone driver Patrick Nève competed in 11 races that year, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix . The new team failed to score a point, achieving a best finish of 7th at the Italian Grand Prix . For the 1978 season, Patrick Head designed the first Williams car: the FW06. Williams signed Alan Jones , who had won

11692-815: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at

11840-636: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during

11988-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged

12136-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to

12284-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until

12432-508: The end of 1997. The team brought in Adrian Newey to replace Frank Dernie . The combination of Renault's powerful engine and Adrian Newey 's designing expertise led to the team dominating the sport in the mid-1990s alongside McLaren. Mansell had a record-breaking 1992 season, winning the title in record time and leading numerous races from pole to finish. The Renault era started in 1989 , with Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen at

12580-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at

12728-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with

12876-490: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with

13024-550: The engineering department. The team also switched to Mercedes engines and became a test-bed for the development of hybrid technology in engines and kinetic energy recovery systems , known as KERS. Williams also increased the team's racing budget by securing profitable corporate sponsorships, factors that helped the team to something of a renaissance between 2014 and 2017, when it finished third twice and then fifth twice. Under her leadership, Williams F1 launched initiatives guiding students into engineering careers, redeveloped

13172-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start

13320-511: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide

13468-412: The field at Adelaide in one of F1's most dominating victories. Coulthard recorded his only 1995 win for the Williams team at Estoril , before moving to McLaren. Williams's champion streak was ended by Benetton , who elected to switch engine suppliers from Ford to Renault, the same as Williams. As such, Benetton outscored Williams by 29 points in the Constructors' Championship. Damon Hill placed second in

13616-584: The final race of the season at Japan , but Hill reasserted his dominance to take the race and the 1996 title, while Villeneuve lost a wheel and retired. Williams's dominance was such that they had clinched the Constructors' Championship and only their drivers had a mathematical chance of taking the title, several races before the season concluded. Around that time, Frank Williams announced that Hill would not be re-signed after his contract expired, despite Hill's successes and eventual Drivers' Championship, so he joined Arrows for 1997. Adrian Newey had ambitions as

13764-455: The first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of

13912-514: The first five Grands Prix, Hill winning all but one of them. Olivier Panis would take victory at the sixth round in Monaco after both Williams cars retired. Hill would retire for the second time in a row after he spun-off in Spain , while his teammate, Villeneuve, took third place. Hill and Villeneuve dominated the next Grand Prix in Canada , with a 1–2 in qualifying and a 1–2 finish. Williams made it

14060-531: The first lap. Since Senna's death, every Williams F1 car has carried a Senna 's' on its livery in his honour and to symbolise the team's ongoing support of the Instituto Ayrton Senna , but cars from 2022 onwards will not have the Senna S, with CEO Capito stating it was time to "move on". At the next race in Spain , Williams brought in test driver David Coulthard as Hill's new teammate. Hill took

14208-489: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car

14356-460: The greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in

14504-405: The hands of Nelson Piquet . Piquet won three races and scored 73 points in the Drivers' Championship. His teammate Mansell came in second place with six victories and 61 points. Williams won the Constructors' Championship for the second year in a row, scoring 137 points, 61 points ahead of their nearest rivals, McLaren. Despite this success, Honda ended their partnership with Williams at the end of

14652-417: The helm of the two Williams cars. Boutsen replaced Mansell, who had signed a contract with Ferrari. The engine's first Grand Prix in Brazil was one that the team would prefer to forget: Boutsen retired with an engine failure and Patrese with an alternator failure. Williams managed to get back on track with Boutsen finishing in fourth at the next race in Italy ; winning the team three points. Two races later at

14800-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled

14948-489: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded

15096-509: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and

15244-422: The most serious challenge of his life. While returning to the airport at Nice , France, after pre-season testing, he was involved in a road accident that left him paralysed. He did not return to the pit lane for almost a year. Despite the lack of his trackside presence, the Williams team won nine Grands Prix and the Constructors' Championship and came close to winning the Drivers' Championship with Nigel Mansell, but

15392-403: The new engine supplier, Senna approached Williams and offered to take over the second car. His interest was such that he was willing to drive for Williams while collecting no salary. However, like with Mansell, Prost had a rather testy relationship with Senna from when the two were teammates and rivals at McLaren in the 1980s. As such, he negotiated a two-year contract with Williams that gave him

15540-399: The opening five races was a new record in Formula One. Senna won the next race in Monaco , ahead of both Williams cars, which finished second and third. In the next race, in Canada , both Williams cars retired: Mansell spun off on entering the final corner (he claimed that Senna pushed him off) and Patrese had a gearbox failure. Mansell went on to record four more Grand Prix wins, including at

15688-411: The outside wall at the 5th corner (out of sight of Hill). As Schumacher recovered, Hill came around the corner and attempted to overtake into the next corner. Schumacher turned in and the resulting contact (Schumacher in the wall and Hill retiring with bent suspension), meant Schumacher was the champion. This collision has been controversial. Some, such as Williams's Patrick Head , have suggested that this

15836-490: The penultimate race in Canada to cap off a great season. Williams had greatly improved their Constructors' Championship position, finishing eight places higher than the previous year and scoring 59 more points. Alan Jones was the closest driver to the Ferrari duo of Villeneuve and 1979 champion Jody Scheckter. Jones scored 43 points, 17 points behind Scheckter, while Regazzoni was two places behind him with 32 points. Before

15984-484: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. Claire Williams Claire Victoria Williams OBE (born 21 July 1976) is a British former motorsport executive who was the deputy team principal of the Williams Formula One racing team from 2013 to 2020. She is one of only two women to have ever managed teams in Formula One. In 2023, she became

16132-403: The points for the first time; as Jones was fourth with Regazzoni in sixth. The team's first win came at the British Grand Prix (their home Grand Prix) when Regazzoni finished 25 seconds ahead of second place. Greater success followed when Williams got a 1-2 finish at the next round in Germany , Jones in first with Regazzoni two seconds behind in second. Jones then made it three wins in a row at

16280-557: The points, coming in second. At the next race, the Canadian Grand Prix , Williams locked out the front row only for Patrese to drop back with gearbox problems and Mansell to retire from the lead on the final lap due to an electrical fault. At the following race in Mexico , Williams achieved a 1–2 finish, with Patrese finishing in first and Mansell finishing in second. Williams then ran a streak of victories, with Mansell winning

16428-546: The points. Williams retained their Constructors' title, 84 points ahead of second-placed McLaren. Prost clinched the Drivers' Championship in Portugal and finished the season 26 points ahead of second-placed Senna. Based on his victory in the 1992 World Championship, Mansell would have been issued car number 1 for the 1993 season, and his teammate issued number 2. However, Mansell's move to the IndyCar series meant that number 1

16576-533: The power to approve or disapprove any driver Williams would seek to have him team with for 1993. Once the contract was signed, Prost used that power to freeze Senna out of driving for Williams; he would return to McLaren for one more season with the team running Ford engines. Needing a replacement, Williams decided not to pursue any of the available drivers such as Berger and Brundle. Instead, they chose to promote former Brabham driver Damon Hill , who had been their test driver since Brabham collapsed and folded during

16724-417: The previous two World Championships with vastly superior cars, Senna was a natural and presumptive pre-season title favourite, with second-year driver Damon Hill intended to play the supporting role. Between them, Prost, Senna, and Hill had won every race in 1993 but one, which was taken by Benetton's Michael Schumacher . As with 1993, Williams's cars were issued numbers 0 and 2, following Prost's victory in

16872-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with

17020-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system

17168-455: The rain on lap 29, while Hill went on to his first podium finish: second, 16 seconds behind Senna. Prost won three of the next four Grands Prix for Williams, Senna winning the other race. Prost and Hill later scored a 1–2 in France : the only 1–2 of the season for Williams. Prost won the next two Grands Prix at Silverstone and Hockenheim . Hill proved competitive especially in the second half of

17316-521: The remainder of the season. Mansell would get approximately £900,000 per race , while Hill was paid £300,000 for the entire season, though Hill remained as lead driver. Schumacher came back after his suspension for the European Grand Prix , which he won by about 25 seconds, to take a lead of 5 points into the penultimate round in Japan . The race in Japan was held in torrential rain, with Hill managing to win

17464-419: The restarted race, by three seconds on aggregate over Schumacher who finished second. Going into the final round at Adelaide , Schumacher led Hill by a single point. Mansell took pole for Williams but had a poor start which let Hill and Schumacher through to fight for the lead and the 1994 title. Midway through the race, Schumacher's perceived need for a low downforce setup cost him, as he lost control and clipped

17612-522: The season. Mechanical problems cost Hill leads in Britain and Germany, but he went on to win the next three Grands Prix at Hungary , Belgium and Italy which moved him to second in the standings, as well as giving him a chance of taking the Drivers' title. After Italy, Williams would not win a Grand Prix for the rest of the season, as a young Michael Schumacher won the following race in Portugal , and Senna took Japan and Australia to overtake Hill in

17760-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives

17908-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form

18056-487: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of

18204-663: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed

18352-429: The start of the 1980 season, Regazzoni left the team. So, Carlos Reutemann joined the team. Williams started strong in the championship, with Jones winning the first race of the season in Argentina . Jones won four more races: the French Grand Prix , the British Grand Prix , the Canadian Grand Prix and, the last race of the season, the United States Grand Prix . Jones became the first of seven Williams drivers to win

18500-410: The success he desired. Despite the promise of a new owner, Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf , and the team's rebranding as Wolf–Williams Racing in 1976 , the cars still were not competitive. Eventually, Williams left the rechristened Walter Wolf Racing and moved to Didcot, Oxfordshire to rebuild his team as Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Frank recruited Patrick Head to work for the team, creating

18648-598: The superiority of the FW15C and Williams FW14 B cars that had preceded it. The surprise of testing was Benetton - Ford which was less powerful but more nimble than the Williams. The first four rounds were won by Michael Schumacher in the Benetton - Ford . Senna took pole in the first two races but failed to finish either of them. In the third race, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Senna again took pole position, but

18796-475: The team 15 points. Williams came second in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 77 points, 64 points behind McLaren. Patrese finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship with 40 points, 41 points behind second-placed Alain Prost . Boutsen finished 5th in the championship with 37 points after also winning in Australia . Boutsen's win gave Williams the distinction of having won both the first and last Grand Prix of

18944-415: The team Williams signed a contract with tobacco company Rothmans International for 1994 , and their namesake brand became its primary sponsor from 1994 to 1997 . Despite Prost's continued unwillingness to have his former McLaren teammate run with him, pressure from various sources including the team's new sponsor led Williams to agree to terms with Ayrton Senna for 1994. The veto power in Prost's contract

19092-485: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,

19240-534: The team's first victory of the season, by almost half a minute over Schumacher's Benetton , while Coulthard would retire due to an electrical problem. In Montreal , both Williams cars finished in the points for the first time that season, with Hill finishing second and Coulthard finishing fifth. In France, Nigel Mansell replaced Coulthard (in the first of four appearances), at the behest of Renault. At Silverstone, Damon Hill accomplished what had eluded his father, twice Formula One World Champion Graham Hill , by winning

19388-653: The team's work with its official charity, the Spinal Injuries Association, and supported F1's sustainability strategy through the expansion of WAE Technologies. George Russell thanked her for giving him his F1 break when he changed to Mercedes. A keen advocate for greater diversity and inclusion within her team and across the sport, Williams wanted to use her position to change attitudes within motor racing, and to bring more women into motorsport and engineering. She appointed female drivers Susie Wolff and Jamie Chadwick to development roles, set up

19536-507: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued

19684-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage

19832-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in

19980-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to

20128-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip

20276-778: The year in favour of McLaren. Unable to make a deal with another major engine manufacturer, Williams used naturally aspirated Judd engines for the 1988 season. This left them with a significant performance deficit compared with their turbo-powered rivals. Piquet left Williams to join Lotus who had retained their Honda engines for the 1988 season, helped by having Satoru Nakajima as number 2 driver to Piquet. Nelson Piquet called Frank Dernie every week to persuade him to join Lotus. Eventually Dernie moved to Lotus to become their new Technical Director. Williams brought in Riccardo Patrese to replace Piquet. The team did not win

20424-425: Was a deliberate attempt by Schumacher to take Hill out of the race. Others, such as then BBC commentator Murray Walker, defended Schumacher, calling the accident a "racing incident". Meanwhile, Nigel Mansell won the last Grand Prix of his career here, driving the second Williams car. Williams would end the season as Constructors' Champion for the third consecutive year, scoring 118 points, while Hill finished second in

20572-456: Was a record until Ferrari won its tenth championship in 2000 . Notable drivers for Williams include: 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 , Carlos Reutemann , Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve . Of these drivers, Jones, Rosberg, Mansell, Hill, Piquet, Prost, and Villeneuve won

20720-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only

20868-545: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt

21016-469: Was involved in a fatal crash at the second corner after completing six laps. The repercussions of Senna's fatal accident were severe for the team itself, as the Italian prosecutors tried to charge the team and Frank Williams with manslaughter, an episode which was not over until 2005. At the next race in Monaco , Damon Hill was the only Williams on the grid, as a mark of respect to Senna, and retired on

21164-446: Was joined at the team by Clay Regazzoni . It was not until the seventh round of the championship, the Monaco Grand Prix , that they finished in the points. Regazzoni came close to taking the team's first win but finished second, less than a second behind race winner Jody Scheckter . The next race, the French Grand Prix , is remembered for the final lap battle between René Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve , but also saw both cars finish in

21312-412: Was leaving CART to replace Berger at McLaren. McLaren also was potentially dealing with losing a driver, as Ayrton Senna's contract had expired following the 1992 season. In addition to this, McLaren's arrangement with Honda to provide engines had also expired, and the team had signed to run Ford engines for 1993. With McLaren having fallen behind Williams on the grid, combined with his uncertainty regarding

21460-629: Was looking to bring Prost aboard. Prost and Gerhard Berger had essentially swapped rides after the 1989 season with Prost becoming Mansell's teammate at Ferrari. The acrimonious relationship between the two that ensued nearly resulted in Mansell retiring from the sport altogether and he had not forgotten this; as such, Mansell began looking for other options to continue his racing career. He eventually decided to move over to CART, where he paired with Mario Andretti at Newman/Haas Racing . That seat, meanwhile, had opened up because Andretti's son, Michael ,

21608-429: Was not issued; instead, the team was issued the number 0, which was placed on Hill's car, while Prost was issued number 2. 1993 marked the final season that Williams ran with Canon as its primary backer. During the 1994 season, Williams used FW16 (developed during the pre-season) and FW16B (with shorter sidepods and optimised for the revised floor regulations which were introduced during the season). After Canon left

21756-409: Was only in effect for the 1993 season, and since Williams was now free to do as it desired and that Senna was again a free agent, the team decided it would bring in the multi-time former champion. To appease Prost, who decided to retire from racing permanently after Senna's signing, Williams agreed to pay him his full salary for the second half of the contract. Given this was the same team that had won

21904-588: Was sold to GKN . In May 2020, Williams announced they were seeking buyers for a portion of the team due to poor financial performance in 2019 and that they had terminated the contract of title sponsor ROKiT. On 21 August 2020, Williams was acquired by Dorilton Capital. Frank and Claire Williams stepped down from being Manager and Deputy Manager of the team on 6 September 2020, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being their last time in their respective positions. Frank Williams founded Williams in 1977 after his previous team, Frank Williams Racing Cars , failed to achieve

#453546