The History of Williams in Formula 1 to the Rhythm of Fast Lap

By Charles Sanz

DO YOU KNOW FRANK WILLIAMS' STORY OF OVERCOMING THE ODDS AND LEADING HIS FORMULA 1 TEAM TO GLORY FROM ITS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS?

 

The Williams team is undoubtedly one of the most legendary in Formula 1 due to its long and successful history, with humble beginnings followed by an exciting rise to glory, with its subsequent fall and collapse. After the failed attempt to create Frank Williams Racing Car, Frank did not give up and returned to fight for his dream by creating Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

 

This generated wonderful stories to remember, with Alan Jones pushing the team to the top and Clay Regazzoni achieving the first victory, or Carlos Reutemann fighting with a whole Nelson Piquet who would later also end up being part of Williams. The magic of Williams would lead Rosberg to be an atypical champion, and to attract the attention of legends such as Alain Prost or Nigel Mansell, who would end up being seduced by one of the most sophisticated and technological single-seaters in the history of Formula 1, capable of beating the almighty McLaren.

 

Even one of the greatest legends of Formula 1, the Brazilian Ayrton Senna, showed his recurring desire to drive for Williams, and his name would be linked to the British team for eternity.

 

Only a motor racing prodigy like Michael Schumacher seemed to be able to stop the hegemony of Williams, having to resort to the limits of sportsmanship to compete with drivers like Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve.

 

This book shows in a simple way in a light walk the history of Williams in Formula 1 to recall all that this legendary team has contributed to this sport.

 

In this book you will find:

- The life of Sir Frank Williams, founder of the Williams team.

- The creation of Frank Williams Racing Cars and its irregular trajectory.

- The first successes of Frank Williams Racing Cars through Piers Courage and the dramatic end of the British driver.

- The partnership with Walter Wolf and the end of Frank Williams Racing Cars

- The origin of Williams Grand Prix Engineering and its first successes

- Alan Jones' first team points and Regazzoni's first victory

- Jones' first title and the atypical championship of Keke Rosberg

- The Williams-Renault of champions: Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell

- Ayrton Senna's broken dream at Williams

- The FW15, the most sophisticated and technological single-seater in history

- Schumacher's fight beyond the limit with the Williams of Hill and Villeneuve

- Williams-BMW and the attempt to recover the successes of the past

- Juan Pablo Montoya and the illusion of winning titles again

- Williams-Cosworth and the beginning of the decline of a historic team

- The Williams-Mercedes period and the collapse of a historic team

 

All this and much more in a book that will make you enjoy the history of this legendary team in Formula 1!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Sanz
• Release date: Mar 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224845293

Book preview

Introduction

The Williams team is undoubtedly one of the most legendary in Formula 1, and that is due to its long and successful history, worthy of the best film scripts, with a humble origin followed by an exciting rise to glory, with its subsequent fall and sink.

The history of this team is undoubtedly a reflection of its founder, Sir Frank Williams, and his passionate dedication to motorsports, which gave us a magnificent story of overcoming and dedication to all fans of Formula 1 and sport in general.

After the creation of the Frank Williams Racing Car team and its irregular career in Formula 1 and subsequent disappearance, Frank did not give up and returned to fight for his dream by creating Williams Grand Prix Engineering, as the Williams team is known today.

This gave rise to a legacy of wonderful stories to remember, with Alan Jones pushing the team to the top and Clay Regazzoni achieving the first victory for the team, or Carlos Reutemann putting in trouble a whole Nelson Piquet who would later also end up being essential part of the Williams story.

Williams' magic would lead Rosberg to become champion with an atypical record, and attract the attention of legends such as Alain Prost or Nigel Mansell, who would end up being seduced by one of the most sophisticated and technological single-seaters in the history of Formula 1, capable of to rival the all-powerful McLaren for an entire era.

Even one of the greatest legends of Formula 1, the Brazilian Ayrton Senna, showed his recurring desire to drive for Williams, and his name would be attached to the British team for eternity.

Only a motorsports prodigy like Michael Schumacher seemed to be able to stop the hegemony of Williams, having to resort to the limits of sportsmanship to compete with drivers like Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve.

But every success story has its share of failure, and an entire legendary team had to progressively face its own decline. But just like Frank Williams himself after his serious accident, the team did not give up and tried to recover its glory days through its association with BMW and later with Mercedes.

However, Williams' success today is far from his best years. Only time will show if it is capable of recovering its past glory, but in the meantime, I hope you can enjoy its magnificent history, which will remain forever in the memory, in a simple way in a light walk to remember everything that this legendary team has contributed to Formula 1 and motorsport fans.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the following pages.

Sir Frank Williams, the founder of the Williams team

Frank Williams - Motor Historia

Francis Owen Garbett Williams was born in South Shields on April 16, 1942, the son of an officer in the Royal Air Force and a school teacher. He spent part of his childhood in boarding school in Scotland, and it was when a friend gave him a ride in a Jaguar XK150 that his life first touched on speed cars.

This passion for fast cars would end up making him one of the most outstanding people in the history of Formula 1. His love of motorsports led him to enter the sport both as a driver and as a mechanic.

And at the age of 24, after achieving the necessary savings as a street vendor in the food sector, he managed to create his own team: Frank Williams Racing Cars.

In the first two years his team participated in Formula 2 and Formula 3, but in 1969, three years after creating his team, Frank was finally able to buy a Brabham Formula 1 chassis to compete in the world's top motor racing competition. He thus began his legacy in elite motorsports.

16 Piers Courage (GB) - Brabham BT26A (Ford Cosworth V8) 5 (10) Frank Williams Racing Cars | Carreras de autos, Historia del automovil, Automoviles

[1]

Frank Williams Racing Car and its debut in Formula 1

File:1969 Piers Courage, Brabham-Ford.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The first Formula 1 single-seater of the Frank Williams Racing Cars team was the BT26A and it used a Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 engine, one of the most successful engines in the history of competition and which at the end of the 60s was used by almost all the teams. (except for Ferrari and BRM).

The single-seater was driven by Piers Courage. The Briton had made his debut in Formula 1 in 1966, participating in a single race, in Germany, where he had to leave by accident with a Lotus. In 1967 he entered the opening two races for the Reg Parnell Racing team, dropping out of both, and in two further attempts throughout the year he failed to qualify for the race.

He had repeated in the same team in 1968, already with a complete program, where he achieved the first four points of his career, with a fourth position in Italy as the best result during the season. Although he finished 19th in the final classification, it was enough for Williams to count on him for the year of the team's debut in Formula 1.

Piers Courage | Formula 1 Wiki | Fandom [2]

The Williams team did not participate in the first race of the year in South Africa, but did in the rest of the season. Courage started by retiring in Spain, but in his second race with the team he achieved a superb podium finish with second place in Monaco, a successful start for Frank's team.

After two more retirements, he finished fifth in Great Britain, the same position he held in Italy, and again had to retire in Germany and Canada. In the United States he finished second again achieving a new podium, and finished the season with a tenth position in Mexico.

This meant a very good debut for Frank Williams' team in Formula 1 with two important podiums and always finishing among the top 10 classifieds... at least when the car managed to finish, because the abandonments were frequent, but if they were reduced there was hope of being among the first with more constancy in the future. Courage finished eighth in the drivers' standings with 16 points.

In 1970, Frank Williams opted to use a De Tomaso chassis instead of the Brabham, continuing to power the new 505/38 with the Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8.

Piers Courage continued with the team and the season started, although the results were not satisfactory. He dropped out in South Africa by accident, and then failed to qualify in Spain or Monaco for the race. In Belgium he had to leave due to oil pressure failure.

However,