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Williams F1

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In 1987, Frank Williams reflected that “The sport itself is totally different nowadays, and not just by virtue of the fact that there seem to be so many noughts on the end of every invoice.” As Williams enters 2006, its 29th year, such an observation is ever more applicable to a sport that has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Yet despite the changing face of Formula One, the team remains true to its core values. Williams has, and always will be, a racing team – it is a passion that courses through the company from the Team Principal to the employees on the factory floor. As the distractions of business and politics become increasingly intertwined with Grand Prix racing, Williams to some extent has remained disinterested and perhaps even anachronistic in some people’s minds for its single-minded focus on winning races.

A former racer himself, Frank Williams served a long apprenticeship in the lower categories of motor sport, yet it wasn’t until he joined forces with Patrick Head that the journey to the pinnacle of motor racing began in earnest. It is virtually impossible to unravel the reasons why the two men gel together so completely in the professional management of the organisation, but it is a business partnership that has not only endured but delivered across three decades. If there is one observable modus operandi in the relationship, however, it is apparent that each man respects the responsibilities of the other, and resists the temptation to interfere in the other’s domain.

Right from the outset, Williams left Head to take care of the engineering side of the business, while Williams could turn his attention to finding the necessary sponsorship required to fund a successful operation, and following the recruitment of the gifted Australian, Alan Jones, the team had in place the foundations on which to mount a successful challenge on the World Championship. It would not be a long wait. After a maiden win at Silverstone in 1979, it was the Head-designed FW07 driven by Jones that hoisted the team to the ultimate prize in 1980, claiming both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships. Affectionately regarded by Frank Williams as the best driver of his era, Jones was one of the key figures in putting Williams firmly on the race-winning map. Patrick Head reflected at the time, “He just loved beating other people - if you were somewhere on the first four rows of the grid, the whole team just felt he was going to win the race.”

Key to Patrick Head’s view of the future development of the team was the increasing contribution of aerodynamics to track success, so it was not long before the team had its own wind tunnel and full time aerodynamicist. In addition to the improving facilities, the outward perception of the team began to change. Carlos Reutemann, who was Jones’ team-mate, reflected on this period when he said, “Patrick kept a strong continuity in his designs. They were just beginning to attract the right sponsors, money was no longer a problem, you could see Williams was going to reach the top and stay there.”

In 1982, the team was joined by the charismatic Finn, Keke Rosberg, who swept to the drivers’ title and for whom Patrick Head was full of praise. “He was a fantastic driver - very macho, always on the limit in the car, very exciting to watch,” he recalled. Despite such success, it was becoming apparent that the team was running against the turbo tide of the manufacturer-backed teams and a switch to forced induction 1.5 litre engines was a necessary step to continue to deliver the success the team had become accustomed to.

The early ‘80s was a time of much uncertainty in Grand Prix racing, characterised by disputes between the constructors, and the sport’s governing body. In such a tempest of political discord, it was vital that the correct technical decisions were made and, after a long courtship, Williams eventually entered into a technical partnership with the Japanese engine manufacturer, Honda. The first few years were not without their difficulties as the partnership bedded down and Honda came to understand the massive investment of time and resources that were necessary to create a successful operation. It was in this situation that the drive and experience of Patrick Head were instrumental in making the relationship work. Keke Rosberg commented, “It was Patrick who really made Honda appreciate just what was required to get the job done in Formula One. He educated them into realising precisely what was wanted.”

By 1985, Rosberg was joined by Nigel Mansell in the first carbon chassis race car designed by the team and the presence of an engine department within the factory at Didcot demonstrated the increased commitment of Honda that would, in the following few years, begin to pay dividends. As the technical regulators played with the rules in an effort to halt the increasing power output, the design team had produced a completely new car which was to be regarded as one of the classic racing cars of its era. At the wheel of the FW11, Mansell teamed up with the charismatic Brazilian, Nelson Piquet, and the Williams-Honda team became a formidable force.

However, shortly before the start of the 1986 season, the team was rocked by a devastating road accident to team boss Frank Williams, who spent the rest of the year recovering in hospital. In his absence, the new driver line-up dominated the championship securing the team’s fifth world title. The pairing of Mansell and Piquet produced one of the most absorbing and uncompromising duels in the sport’s history, and the absence of team orders demonstrated the unwavering commitment of the team to competitive racing.

Despite tasting considerable success, by the end of 1987 Honda decided to pursue its interests elsewhere, leaving the team to fall back on a purchased supply of Judd engines. Such a loss may have brought a lesser team to its knees, yet it was not long before Frank Williams had tempted engine manufacturer, Renault, back into the Formula One paddock on a three year deal, following the French company’s withdrawal in 1986.

By 1989, Head had designed the FW13 specifically for Renault’s v10 and with Mansell gone to Ferrari, Thierry Boutsen took the reins to guide the team back into familiar territory at the front of the grid. However, Mansell’s departure was more of an interlude as he was back in the Williams cockpit in time for the 1991 season, despite having been determined to retire from Formula One. Asked why he returned he said, “It gives me what I regard as the best opportunity for the World Championship, with a superbly competitive car and an environment where I feel totally comfortable, confident, and benefiting from 100% support.” His decision was to pay off handsomely in 1992 where he took the chequered in the first five races of the season on his way to the championship. With the experienced Italian Riccardo Patrese leading the rest of the field, it handed Renault their first Constructors’ title in convincing fashion.

Williams and Renault repeated their championship achievements the following year with a new driver line up of Alain Prost and Damon Hill, but the team was to suffer another tragic event in 1994. The Brazilian racing legend, Ayrton Senna, had replaced Prost behind the wheel, but at Imola in Italy he crashed heavily at the notorious Tamburello corner, and was killed. His death devastated the team and led to a comprehensive examination of the safety issues within Formula One; subsequently many circuits have been modified. Senna was not just an exceptional driver, as Frank Williams remarked, “I always thought he could have become President of Brazil. He was a terribly clever guy. In any negotiation, you had to be good at chess because he had always prepared at least three possible moves and four counter moves for every possibility. He had astonishing mental preparation.” Despite such a crushing blow, it was testimony to the resilience of the team that they retained their Constructors’ title, with test driver David Coulthard joining Hill for the remainder of the season.

The winter of 1995 saw a major relocation of the team’s headquarters to new purpose-built facilities at Grove, ten miles from the team’s original Didcot base. Opened by HRH The Princess Royal, it was the precursor to another successful season that saw both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ silverware return to the new trophy cabinet at Grove.

In the cutting edge environment of Formula One, Patrick Head always maintained, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re top of the pile or struggling around the middle, you’re always faced with challenges – technical or human,” and come 1998 the team was hit by both following the withdrawal of Renault from Formula One, and the departure of long term aerodynamicist Adrian Newey at a time of seismic changes to the sport’s technical regulations. The team struggled with Mecachrome/Supertech badged engines for two seasons, but once again the tremendous leadership of Frank Williams dispelled any uncertainty by negotiating a major new collaboration with German giant, BMW.

Behind the serious business, Frank Williams retains a keen sense of humour, as the BMW executives discovered when they were subjected to a fly-past of one of Britain’s remaining Spitfires, seconds after completing the deal. The attraction for BMW, and also the reason why the team has never sought a stock market listing, is that every single penny generated by Williams is spent on making the cars go faster.

The debut season for the Anglo-German partnership saw the driver line-up of Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button finish an extremely creditable third place in the Constructors’ Championship. Expectation rose with the arrival of the pugnacious Juan Pablo Montoya, a sensation in the US CART series, who replaced Button for the 2001 season; a handful of victories demonstrated the tangible progress being made by the new partnership.

With Ferrari dominant the following year, it was in 2003 that the team clicked, pushing the Maranello-based outfit right until the final race of the season in Suzuka. A strong showing was underpinned by some outstanding performances, exemplified by Montoya storming to victory in the streets of Monaco and breaking the team’s 20 year barren run in the Principality.

It would be the best finish the team would achieve in its collaboration with BMW as the following years were hampered by technological and personnel changes. By 2005, the team had a new driver line-up with the highly regarded Australian Mark Webber partnering the experienced Nick Heidfeld. A new wind tunnel had been built at Grove and despite some early teething problems, the benefits were soon to be seen with a 14% increase in downforce generated by the season finale in Shanghai.

In 2006, another new dawn now beckons for the team. Cosworth have replaced BMW, Bridgestone renew old ties and in Nico Rosberg the team welcomes an exciting new talent to the driver line-up. Yet despite another raft of changes in the technical regulations, the ethos and drive of the team remains the same – as Frank Williams says, “In this industry you have to look forward and to focus on the task in hand – winning races.” It was ever so.

2006
In late 2005, WilliamsF1 and Cosworth announced a partnership agreement for the 2006 season where Cosworth will supply WilliamsF1 with engines, transmissions and associated electronics and software.[35] Cosworth have more experience in building V8 racing engines required by the 2006 Formula One regulations, than any other current F1 engine manufacturer and also have some history with Williams, being the engine suppler that the team started out with, and won the 1980 and 1982 championships with. On September 14, 2005 it was announced that the long running sponsorship agreement between WilliamsF1 and Hewlett Packard (HP) would be concluded one year before the official end of the contract.

Although neither Williams or HP offered any reason for the early termination some observers have speculated the loss of the title sponsor may be a result of continuing uncertainty over driver lineup for 2006. Despite having signed a contract to race for Williams, Jenson Button decided that he would prefer to stay with BAR for 2006 as it was to become a Honda works team. In September 2005 a deal was reached to allow Button to remain with BAR, with Williams receiving around £24m, some of it paid by Jenson himself, to cancel this contract.

Current Williams sponsors are Anheuser-Busch (with Budweiser or SeaWorld Adventure Parks, depending on the race, as some countries have trademark disputes over the Budweiser brand, or in Bahrain, Turkey, and France, a ban on alcohol advertising), Royal Bank of Scotland, or Allianz. Williams introduced a new interim livery for use during Winter testing - the car was predominantely midnight blue, and featured the white chevrons used as a logo on Frank Williams Racing cars in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Remaining Williams sponsors such as Petrobras and FedEx were all represented on the interim livery. Williams have also announced that Dutch giant Philips will join the team as a sponsor for 2006, although the amount for this deal has not been reported. TATA is also another sponsor of the team. The Indian car company signed a contract several hours after Narain Karthikeyan was announced as test driver.

Mark Webber is under contract to the team for 2006, but will leave the team for Red Bull in 2007. Webber reportly said that Williams is underfunded and will not be able to contend for the championship in 2007. Alex Wurz will be replacing him and will be partnered by Nico Rosberg (son of Keke), who said that his main goal was to win the world title with Williams one day. Williams are entitled to use a third car on the Friday of a race weekend because they finished lower than 4th in the Constructor's Championship in 2005. On the 2nd of January, the team confirmed that Alexander Wurz became the team's official test and reserve driver for the 2006 season. Williams tried a number of drivers for that role during the winter testing in 2005 including Andy Priaulx and Narain Karthikeyan but opted for Wurz who brought a lot of experience having raced with Benetton for four years and filling the official test driver role for McLaren from 2001 until 2005. On the 27th of January, the team announced the signing of Narain Karthikeyan as the team's fourth driver for 2006.

The Cosworth engines were initially running better than the team expected,the team for a short while seemed to be more competitive than the new BMW Sauber team. Driver Nico Rosberg scored 2 points finishing 7th at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, being his first Grand Prix, he also recorded the fastest lap. Just ahead of him Mark Webber scored 3 points finishing 6th. Alex Wurz, the third driver for Williams is also performing well, finishing in the first three positions in the free practice sessions. However, in recent races the BMW Sauber team has by far out-performed the Williams team, and Williams has not managed a point finish in 10 races, its longest point dry spell in its history.

Toyota (2007 onwards)
On 27th July 2006, Williams and Toyota announced a deal for the Japanese car manufacturer to supply engines to Williams from 2007. On 2nd August 2006, Williams announced that Alexander Wurz would join Nico Rosberg on the grid. On 28th September 2006, Williams announced that Narain Karthikeyan will be their test driver for 2007.On November 8, 2006, Williams announced that Toyota star Kazuki Nakajima has received a testing role with the team for 2007. He is the son of former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima.

On 20th October 2006, it was announced that AT&T would become the title sponsors for the team from the 2007 season, and the team would be called the AT&T WilliamsF1 Team. AT&T were previously involved as minor sponsors with the Jaguar and McLaren teams, but moved to Williams following McLaren's announcement of a title sponsorship deal with Vodafone, a competitor of AT&T, for the 2007 season.[43]

On November 17, 2006, Williams announced that Adam Parr will replace Chris Chapple as the Chief Executive Officer of the team.

Drivers:	Nico Rosberg
	Alexander Wurz