Williams

Williams Racing is one of the most historic Formula 1 teams still on the grid. It is based in Grove, Oxfordshire, on a 60-acre site where the late Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head founded the team in 1977. The team was formed after Frank Williams’ previous unsuccessful F1 teams, Frank Williams Racing Cars and later Wolf–Williams Racing, were unsuccessful in the 1976 season.

Current Williams Drivers

23

Alexander Albon

F1 Debut 2019 Australian Grand Prix

Current/Last Team Williams

55

Carlos Sainz

F1 Debut 2015 Australian Grand Prix

Current/Last Team Williams

Full Team Name: Williams Racing
Base: Grove, United Kingdom
Team Chief: James Vowles
Technical Chief: Pat Fry
First Team Entry: 1978
World Championships: 9

First Entry	As a team 1977 Spanish Grand Prix As a constructor 1978 Argentine Grand Prix
Last Entry	Ongoing
Engines	Ford, Honda, Judd, Renault, Mecachrome, Supertec, BMW, Cosworth, Toyota, Mercedes
Constructors’ Championships	9 (1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997)
Drivers’ Championships	7 (1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997)
Race Wins	114
Podiums	314
Pole Positions	128
Fastest Laps	133

The team’s debut race as a non-constructor was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix, where they ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève. The following year, Williams started manufacturing its own cars, where they made their first entry as an offical constructor at the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix. The team’s first win came at the 1979 British Grand Prix with Clay Regazzoni behind the wheel.

Williams went on to win nine Constructors’ Championships between 1980 and 1997, a record until Ferrari won its tenth championship in 2000. They are also one of only five teams in Formula 1, alongside Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull Racing, to win 100 races, with Jacques Villeneuve scoring the team’s 100th race victory at the 1997 British Grand Prix.

Over the decades, Williams has had a long list of notable drivers, including 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, Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve. Of these drivers, Jones, Rosberg, Mansell, Hill, Piquet, Prost, and Villeneuve won the Drivers’ Championship with the team. Only Jones, Rosberg, and Villeneuve defended their title while still with the team. Strangely, none of the Drivers’ Champions with Williams have gone on to win another championship after their success with Williams.

Since 1977, Williams has collaborated with various engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault, winning five of their nine Constructors’ titles.

Along with Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton, and Renault, Williams is one of the five teams that won every Constructors’ Championship between 1979 and 2008 and every Drivers’ Championship from 1984 to 2008.

Away from Formula 1, Williams also has business interests in other areas, such as Williams Advanced Engineering and Williams Hybrid Power, which take technology developed for Formula One and adapt it for commercial use.

After a poor financial year in 2019, Williams announced in May 2020 that they were seeking buyers for a portion of the team and terminated their contract with title sponsor ROKiT. Later that year, on 21 August 2020, Dorilton Capital acquired the team. Just weeks later, on 6 September 2020, Frank and Claire Williams stepped down from their roles within the team, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being their last in their respective positions. Claire Williams had been offered the chance to remain as Team Principal, but she declined. The race marked the first time the Williams F1 Team competed without the Williams family’s leadership since it was founded 43 years earlier.

In Claire’s place, Simon Roberts, who had joined Williams from McLaren earlier in the year, took on the role of acting team principal. Later, in December 2020, Williams announced the appointment of Jost Capito as the new CEO, with Roberts officially assuming the position of team principal and reporting to Capito. This role was short-lived, and halfway through the following season, in June 2021, Simon Roberts departed from the team. Following his departure, most of his responsibilities were assumed by Jost Capito, while François-Xavier Demaison took over his trackside leadership duties.

Another leadership change occurred again at the start of the 2023 season, with James Vowles taking over as the team’s new Principal. Vowles brought experience from his title-winning years with Mercedes, where he was the team’s chief strategist.

Starting from the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Williams announced that Franco Colapinto would race for the team during the remaining nine races of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship. He became the 49th Grand Prix driver for Williams Racing, the first Argentine driver in F1 in 23 years, and the second Argentine to race for the British team, following Carlos Reutemann. He replaced Logan Sargeant after a series of poor performances.

For 2025, Carlos Sainz joined the team from Ferrari.

Williams Drivers’ Champions

The following drivers won the Formula One Drivers’ Championship for Williams F1.

Driver	Nationality	Championship Year
Alan Jones	Australian	1980
Keke Rosberg	Finnish	1982
Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	1987
Nigel Mansell	British	1992
Alain Prost	French	1993
Damon Hill	British	1996
Jacques Villeneuve	Canadian	1997

Williams Team Wins

No.	Race	Driver
1	1979 British Grand Prix	Clay Regazzoni
2	1979 German Grand Prix	Alan Jones
3	1979 Austrian Grand Prix	Alan Jones
4	1979 Dutch Grand Prix	Alan Jones
5	1979 Canadian Grand Prix	Alan Jones
6	1980 Argentine Grand Prix	Alan Jones
7	1980 Monaco Grand Prix	Carlos Reutemann
8	1980 French Grand Prix	Alan Jones
9	1980 British Grand Prix	Alan Jones
10	1980 Canadian Grand Prix	Alan Jones
11	1980 United States Grand Prix	Alan Jones
12	1981 United States Grand Prix West	Alan Jones
13	1981 Brazilian Grand Prix	Carlos Reutemann
14	1981 Belgian Grand Prix	Carlos Reutemann
15	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix	Alan Jones
16	1982 Swiss Grand Prix	Keke Rosberg
17	1983 Monaco Grand Prix	Keke Rosberg
18	1984 Dallas Grand Prix	Keke Rosberg
19	1985 Detroit Grand Prix	Keke Rosberg
20	1985 European Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
21	1985 South African Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
22	1985 Australian Grand Prix	Keke Rosberg
23	1986 Brazilian Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
24	1986 Belgian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
25	1986 Canadian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
26	1986 French Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
27	1986 British Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
28	1986 German Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
29	1986 Hungarian Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
30	1986 Italian Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
31	1986 Portuguese Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
32	1987 San Marino Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
33	1987 French Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
34	1987 British Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
35	1987 German Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
36	1987 Hungarian Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
37	1987 Austrian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
38	1987 Italian Grand Prix	Nelson Piquet
39	1987 Spanish Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
40	1987 Mexican Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
41	1989 Canadian Grand Prix	Thierry Boutsen
42	1989 Australian Grand Prix	Thierry Boutsen
43	1990 San Marino Grand Prix	Riccardo Patrese
44	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix	Thierry Boutsen
45	1991 Mexican Grand Prix	Riccardo Patrese
46	1991 French Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
47	1991 British Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
48	1991 German Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
49	1991 Italian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
50	1991 Portuguese Grand Prix	Riccardo Patrese
51	1991 Spanish Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
52	1992 South African Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
53	1992 Mexican Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
54	1992 Brazilian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
55	1992 Spanish Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
56	1992 San Marino Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
57	1992 French Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
58	1992 British Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
59	1992 German Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
60	1992 Portuguese Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
61	1992 Japanese Grand Prix	Riccardo Patrese
62	1993 South African Grand Prix	Alain Prost
63	1993 San Marino Grand Prix	Alain Prost
64	1993 Spanish Grand Prix	Alain Prost
65	1993 Canadian Grand Prix	Alain Prost
66	1993 French Grand Prix	Alain Prost
67	1993 British Grand Prix	Alain Prost
68	1993 German Grand Prix	Alain Prost
69	1993 Hungarian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
70	1993 Belgian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
71	1993 Italian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
72	1994 Spanish Grand Prix	Damon Hill
73	1994 British Grand Prix	Damon Hill
74	1994 Belgian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
75	1994 Italian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
76	1994 Portuguese Grand Prix	Damon Hill
77	1994 Japanese Grand Prix	Damon Hill
78	1994 Australian Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell
79	1995 Argentine Grand Prix	Damon Hill
80	1995 San Marino Grand Prix	Damon Hill
81	1995 Hungarian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
82	1995 Portuguese Grand Prix	David Coulthard
83	1995 Australian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
84	1996 Australian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
85	1996 Brazilian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
86	1996 Argentine Grand Prix	Damon Hill
87	1996 European Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
88	1996 San Marino Grand Prix	Damon Hill
89	1996 Canadian Grand Prix	Damon Hill
90	1996 French Grand Prix	Damon Hill
91	1996 British Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
92	1996 German Grand Prix	Damon Hill
93	1996 Hungarian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
94	1996 Portuguese Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
95	1996 Japanese Grand Prix	Damon Hill
96	1997 Brazilian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
97	1997 Argentine Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
98	1997 San Marino Grand Prix	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
99	1997 Spanish Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
100	1997 British Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
101	1997 Hungarian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
102	1997 Austrian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
103	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve
104	2001 San Marino Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
105	2001 Canadian Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
106	2001 German Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
107	2001 Italian Grand Prix	Juan Pablo Montoya
108	2002 Malaysian Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
109	2003 Monaco Grand Prix	Juan Pablo Montoya
110	2003 European Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
111	2003 French Grand Prix	Ralf Schumacher
112	2003 German Grand Prix	Juan Pablo Montoya
113	2004 Brazilian Grand Prix	Juan Pablo Montoya
114	2012 Spanish Grand Prix	Pastor Maldonado

Williams Front-Row Lockouts

Qualifying has always been fiercely competitive, making front-row lockouts—when one team secures both first and second place in qualifying—a strong indicator of dominance. Though increasingly rare outside top teams, a few constructors have consistently achieved them throughout F1 history. While grid layouts varied before 1973, the modern two-by-two formation has since defined the front row, with certain teams mastering the art, Williams included. Alongside 1-2 race finishes, the teams with the most front-row lockouts highlight the sport’s most dominant constructors.

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