Williams rises but fails to peak
Five constructors’ titles in six seasons, plus drivers’ crowns for Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. If the Williams legend was established in the 1980s, it was in the following decade when the team branded its status as a Formula 1 ‘big beast’. Consistency was the key, mined from a powerful and long-lasting alliance with Renault’s increasingly potent V10 engines, combined with a rich and fruitful collaboration between two of F1’s greatest minds: Patrick Head and Adrian Newey.
The deep roots of that bountiful harvest were established during 1991. But ask Head today to reflect on the promise of that prelude season, and all he focuses on is the missed opportunity, the titles that were lost. Before Williams-Renault truly hit its stride there would be a stumble (or three), which was all the matured combination of Ayrton Senna and McLaren-Honda needed to delay an era-defining run of success.
“It was a year when Nigel [Mansell] in the FW14 should have won the championship, but early-season transmission problems, plus not applying team orders and letting Riccardo [Patrese] take points from Nigel, resulted in another title for Ayrton,” is Head’s typically blunt assessment. It’s accurate, of course,
