Ford-Cosworth engines (1977–1983) 1977 season Williams entered a
March 761 for the season. Lone driver
Patrick Nève competed in 11 races that year, starting with the . The new team failed to score a point, achieving a best finish of 7th at the .
1978 season at
Silverstone in 2007 For the season, Patrick Head designed the first Williams car: the FW06. Williams signed
Alan Jones, who had won the 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 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 when Jones finished in fourth. Williams earnt their first podium at the , 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.
1979 season Head designed the
FW07 chassis and gearbox for the 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 was joined at the team by
Clay Regazzoni. It was not until the seventh round of the championship, the , 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 the points for the first time; as Jones was fourth with Regazzoni in sixth. The team's first win came at the (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 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 ; with Regazzoni finishing third behind Scheckter and Villeneuve. Alan Jones managed another win at the penultimate race in
Canada to cap off a great season. Williams had greatly improved their Constructors' Championship position, finishing seven 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.
1980 season Before the start of the 1980 season, Regazzoni left the team and was replaced by
Carlos Reutemann. 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 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.
1981 season Williams won four races in . 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 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.
1982 season 's
FW08 used during the season when Rosberg won the Drivers' Championship recording only a single win during the season 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 a single point the previous year. He won the Drivers' title that year despite winning only one race, the . 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 the Constructors' Championship that year, 16 points behind first-place
Ferrari.
Honda engines (1983–1987) 1983 season 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 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 the Constructors' Championship, scoring 36 points. Also, Rosberg won that year's .
1984 season For the 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 the Drivers' Championship.
1985 season 's Williams FW10 chassis used during the season In ,
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 and the . Williams finished in third in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 71 points. During qualifying for the , Rosberg completed a lap of the circuit in 1:05.591. The lap's average speed was . 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.
1986 season In March 1986, Frank Williams faced 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 the British driver's left-rear tyre blew at the , 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.
1987 season 's championship-winning
FW11B from was the only Honda-powered Williams to win a Drivers' Championship. The season brought the Williams-Honda partnership its first and only Drivers' Championship title in 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 the year in favour of McLaren.
Judd engines (1988) 1988 season Unable to make a deal with another major engine manufacturer, Williams used
naturally aspirated Judd engines for the 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 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.
Renault engines (1989–1997) 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 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.
1989 season , the first powered by a Renault engine The Renault era started in , with
Riccardo Patrese and
Thierry Boutsen at 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 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 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 first-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 the 1980s.
1990 season In the 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.
1991 season winner Nigel Mansell giving Ayrton Senna a lift back to the Silverstone paddock after Senna had run out of fuel Boutsen left Williams and joined
Ligier at the start of the season. Replacing him was a returning
Nigel Mansell, who was talked out of retirement by Frank Williams himself following two tumultuous seasons at 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 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 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 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.
1992 season 's
Williams FW14B used for the season when he won the Drivers' Championship and the team won the Constructors' Championship Williams took a step up for the season, keeping their 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 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 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 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.
1992 off-season 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 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 was looking to bring Prost aboard. Prost had joined Ferrari alongside Mansell, replacing
Gerhard Berger, for the 1990 World Championship after his run of success with McLaren, and the two drivers' relationship (or lack thereof) played a large part in Mansell's previously mentioned decision to leave F1 before Williams stepped in. Unwilling to serve as Prost's teammate for another year, Mansell joined the
CART IndyCar Series for 1993; he replaced
Michael Andretti, son of and teammate to
Mario Andretti, at
Newman/Haas Racing. Michael Andretti, meanwhile, would be making the jump to F1 for 1993 and signed to drive for McLaren filling the seat held by Berger. He entered a team that was in flux, as there were questions as to who else would be driving for the team and what engines they would be running. Honda, the team's longtime supplier, left the World Championship following the season. Coinciding with this was the fact that Ayrton Senna's contract was due for renewal, and he was not sure he was going to stay. After McLaren was unable to procure a supply of Renault engines, Senna decided to explore other options; he approached Williams with an offer to take the seat Mansell was vacating, claiming he would forgo collecting a salary for the opportunity. However, as with Mansell, there were lingering bad feelings between Prost and Senna from their championship chasing years at McLaren. Prost would sign a two year contract for Williams, which included a veto power clause for the 1993 season; he exercised that clause and froze Senna out of driving for Williams. Senna returned to McLaren where he ran Ford engines. Williams in turn opted not to pursue Berger, who returned to Ferrari, or Brundle, who signed with
Ligier; instead, test driver
Damon Hill was promoted to pair with Prost.
1993 season 's
Williams FW15C used for the season on display at the
Donington Grand Prix Collection 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 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 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 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 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.
1994 season B used in the second half of the 1994 season when
Rothmans debuted as the team's primary backer During the 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 the team Williams signed a contract with tobacco company
Rothmans International for , and their namesake brand became its primary sponsor from 1994 to . 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 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 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 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 the Williams chassis of the previous years had been built around. With their removal in 1994, the 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 the superiority of the
FW15C and
Williams FW14B 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 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 the first lap. After Senna's death, every Williams F1 car carried a Senna 'S' on its livery in his honour and to symbolise the team's ongoing support of the
Instituto Ayrton Senna until the permanent removal starting in 2022, with then Williams CEO
Jost 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 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 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 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 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 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 that Schumacher was the champion. This collision has been controversial with some, such as Williams's
Patrick Head, have suggesting that this 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 the Drivers' Championship with 91 points.
1995 season in the FW17 at
Montreal in 1995 when he qualified second but retired after 50 race laps due to a gearbox problem In July 2018, former Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice President
Norbert Haug stated that before the 1995 season, Williams was close to a deal to secure
Ilmor-built
Mercedes-Benz factory engines. However, Mercedes eventually went on to partner with
McLaren and thus Williams stayed with
Renault engines instead. In ,
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 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 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 the Drivers' Championship, 33 points behind Benetton's Michael Schumacher.
1996 season For , 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 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 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 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 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. In the middle of the 1996 season, Williams moved from its longtime
Didcot headquarters to
Grove, 15 kilometers away. Before the move, the racing press occasionally referred to Williams as "the Didcot team."
1997 season For what would be the final season of Williams-Renault and a car designed with Newey's input,
Frank Williams brought in German
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had created a good impression on Williams during his first few seasons in Formula One. Frentzen proved to be a disappointment though, and won only one race in two years with Williams, the
1997 San Marino Grand Prix.
Jacques Villeneuve won seven races during 1997, compared to five wins by his main rival,
Michael Schumacher of a resurgent Ferrari. Williams also achieved the 100-race-win milestone at the
British Grand Prix. Coming to the final round of the season at
Jerez, Schumacher led Villeneuve by 1 point; however, on lap 48, Schumacher and Villeneuve collided. Schumacher was disqualified from second place in the championship as the accident was deemed by the FIA as "avoidable". Williams won the Constructors' title for the second time in a row, scoring 123 points. Jacques Villeneuve won the Drivers' Championship by three points to Michael Schumacher, who kept his points total despite being removed from second place; thus, runner-up went to Frentzen with 42 points.
Mecachrome engines (1998) 1998 season in the FW20 at the
1998 Italian Grand Prix After 1997, the team was unable to maintain their dominance in Formula 1 as Renault ended their full-time involvement in Formula 1, and
Adrian Newey moved to the rival team, McLaren. Williams then had to pay for
Mecachrome engines, which were old, rebadged
Renault F1 engines. This meant that the FW20 not only featured a very similar aerodynamic package to their 1997 car but also virtually the same engine, leading some to comment that they ran what was virtually the same car, adjusted for the 1998 regulations. There were changes on the sponsorship front, as Rothmans opted to promote their
Winfield brand, replacing the popular blue and white livery with a red one. For , Williams kept both drivers from the previous season, the first time since that a reigning world champion remained driving for the team. While Ferrari and McLaren battled for the Constructors' and Drivers' titles, Williams fell to the middle of the field. The team won no races and took only 3 podiums during the season, with Frentzen finishing in third at the first round in
Australia and Villeneuve finishing third in
Germany and
Hungary. Williams finished third in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 38 points, while Villeneuve finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 21 points, and his German teammate, Frentzen, finished 4 points behind him in seventh.
Supertec engines (1999) 1999 season in the FW21 at the
1999 Canadian Grand Prix In , Williams employed the
Supertec engine, which was a rebadged Mecachrome-Renault unit, and a new driver line-up.
Villeneuve was signed for
British American Racing (BAR) team, which had bought the former
Tyrrell outfit, while
Frentzen moved to
Jordan. In their places would be
Ralf Schumacher, who had been driving for Jordan but had left under acrimonious terms following an incident where he was
ordered to run behind teammate
Damon Hill at
Spa, and
Alex Zanardi, the two-time
CART champion for
Chip Ganassi Racing. In order to get Zanardi to drive for the team, Williams agreed to allow their test driver,
Juan Pablo Montoya, to run Zanardi's former drive for Ganassi for the 1999 and 2000 CART seasons. The season that followed was a struggle for Williams. The team managed three podiums and 35 driver points, all of which were scored by Schumacher, who took a third place in
Australia and
Britain and a second place in
Italy. Williams finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, the lowest finish for Williams in the 1990s. Zanardi, who had only scored one total point in three years in his first stint in Formula 1 driving for Minardi and Lotus, failed to finish eleven of the sixteen races and had a highest finish of eighth place twice. At the end of the season, both Williams and Zanardi agreed to terminate their contract; he would return to CART for 2001 and never raced in Formula 1 again.
BMW engines (2000–2005) In 1998, the team signed a long-term agreement with German manufacturer
BMW to supply engines and expertise for a period of 6 years. As part of the deal, BMW expected at least one driver to be German, which led to the team's signing of Ralf Schumacher for the subsequent season. In 1999, the team had a Williams car with a BMW engine testing at circuits, in preparation for a debut in the season. There were major sponsorship changes for 2000–2005, as Rothmans International had been purchased in 1999 by
British American Tobacco (BAT), which owned
British American Racing and chose not to renew Rothmans's contract with Williams. BMW paid for Williams cars to be entirely in blue and white – unlike the standard motorsport livery scheme, dominated by the colours of the team or major sponsors with the logos of minor sponsors in their own colour schemes. Williams's second major sponsor became
Compaq, and following Compaq's acquisition the team debuted
Hewlett-Packard (HP) sponsorship at the
2002 British Grand Prix. In a cross-promotion of this technological partnership, a worldwide television commercial featured drivers
Ralf Schumacher and
Juan Pablo Montoya seemingly driving their BMW Williams cars around a track by radio control from a grandstand. The new "clean" image allowed Williams to sign a cigarette anti-craving brand, Niquitin, and
Anheuser-Busch, alternating with the
Budweiser beer brand and
SeaWorld Adventure Parks, in compliance with trademark disputes or alcohol bans.
2000 season To replace Zanardi, Britain's
Jenson Button made his series debut. The first season of Williams's partnership with BMW did not yield a single victory, but they managed to get on the podium three times, with
Ralf Schumacher responsible for all three. Williams finished third in the Constructors' Championship, with 36 points, one more than the prior year.
Ralf Schumacher finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship, while Button, in his debut season, finished in eighth. Button made scrappy mistakes in early races (Monaco, Europe), but overall made an impressive debut in Melbourne, and continued to impress, notably at Silverstone, Spa, and Suzuka.
2001 season in
Montreal. In , the arrangement between Williams and Ganassi came to an end, and thus Williams was able to bring
Juan Pablo Montoya back to drive full-time for the team. He was returning after two successful years in CART, where he succeeded Zanardi as champion for 1999 and won ten races total; he also had become the first CART driver since the infamous 1996 split of American open-wheel racing to win the Indianapolis 500, doing so in 2000. Since Montoya was returning to Williams, this left Jenson Button as the odd man out. He would move over to
Benetton, which was still running rebadged Renault engines, for what was the team's final season under that name. The
FW23 won four races, three by
Ralf Schumacher at
Imola,
Montreal, and his home Grand Prix in
Germany. His teammate, Montoya, was victorious at
Monza, and would have won a few more races if not for the FW23's unreliability and pit crew blunders. The car proved to be quicker than the Ferrari and McLaren counterparts in several races, but Williams's 2001 campaign only yielded third place in the Constructors' Championship.
2002 season Williams maintained their driver line-up for the season. The team only won one race, which was at
Malaysia, one of only 2 races not won by Ferrari in a year dominated by the
Ferraris of
Michael Schumacher and
Rubens Barrichello. Despite Montoya qualifying on pole for 7 races, he ended up having a winless season. Williams did improve on their Constructors' Championship position, finishing in second. Montoya finished third in the Drivers' Championship, eight points ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who finished fourth. In qualifying for the at the
Monza circuit, Montoya lapped his
Williams FW24 in 1:20.264 for an average speed of , breaking the speed record of set by
Keke Rosberg in a
Honda turbo-powered
Williams FW10 at
Silverstone for the
1985 British Grand Prix.
2003 season at the
2003 United States Grand Prix where he qualified fifth before retiring after 21 race laps would see Williams come closest to winning its first title since 1997. During pre-season, Frank Williams was very confident that the
FW25 would challenge for the title. The team won four races, with Montoya winning at
Monaco and
Germany, while Ralf Schumacher won at the
Nürburgring and the following race at
Magny-Cours. Montoya stayed in contention for the Drivers' Championship during the season, and finished third, 11 points behind
Michael Schumacher, while Ralf Schumacher finished fifth, 24 points behind Montoya. Williams finished second in the Constructors' Championship, two points ahead of McLaren.
2004 season in the "Walrus-Nose" designed
Williams FW26 during the
2004 United States Grand Prix when he qualified fifth for the race but was disqualified for illegally using the spare car At the start of the season, it was announced that Montoya would be moving to McLaren in 2005. The team began the season with a radical nose-cone design, known as the "
Walrus-Nose", that proved uncompetitive and was replaced by a more conventional assembly in
Hungary.
Ferrari dominated for a third consecutive season, winning 15 of the 18 races. Williams picked up a win at the final race in
Brazil, with
Juan Pablo Montoya finishing one second ahead of
Kimi Räikkönen's McLaren; this remained Williams's last F1 win until the
2012 Spanish Grand Prix. Another low part of the season was when both Williams and
Toyota were disqualified from the
Canadian Grand Prix after it was discovered that both cars had brake irregularities, the brake ducts seemingly not conforming to regulations. Williams finished the season in fourth, scoring 88 points and finishing on the podium six times, while Montoya was the highest-placed Williams driver that year, scoring 58 points to finish in fifth position.
2005 season in the
FW27 during practice for the
2005 United States GP For the season,
Schumacher moved to
Toyota, while
Montoya moved to McLaren. Taking their places were Australian
Mark Webber and German
Nick Heidfeld.
Jenson Button was to have driven for Williams in 2005, but an
FIA ruling forced Button to remain with his current team,
BAR.
Antônio Pizzonia served as the test driver for the team during the 2005 season. Meanwhile, Button signed a contract to drive for Williams in 2006. Although there was some positive moments, such as a double podium finish in Monaco and Heidfeld qualifying on pole position at the Nürburgring, Williams slipped further back down the field in 2005, due in part to the return to form of rivals McLaren and the emergence of Toyota as a front-running team. Williams failed to win a race for the first time since 2000, and only registered four podium finishes over the course of the season, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 66 points. Heidfeld was replaced by Pizzonia for the last five races of the season after the former suffered firstly a testing accident, and then was hit by a motorbike when out cycling prior to the race in Brazil. Pizzonia could only contribute two points towards the team's tally. During the course of the 2004 and 2005 F1 seasons,
BMW Motorsport and director
Mario Theissen increasingly became publicly critical of the Williams F1 team's inability to create a package capable of winning the Constructors' Championship, or even multiple victories within a single season. Williams, on the other hand, blamed BMW for not producing a good enough engine. Williams's failed attempt to prise
Jenson Button out of his BAR contract may also have been an issue with Theissen. Despite
Frank Williams's rare decision to capitulate to commercial demands by employing German driver
Nick Heidfeld when he allegedly preferred
Antônio Pizzonia, the fallout between Williams and BMW continued through the 2005 Formula One season. Despite BMW's contract with Williams to supply engines until 2009, this public deterioration of the relationship between Williams and BMW was a factor in the decision by BMW Motorsport to buy
Sauber and rebrand that team to feature the BMW name.
Cosworth engines (2006) 2006 season in the
FW28-Cosworth at the
2006 Canadian Grand Prix Williams opted for
Cosworth V8 engines for the which saw
Nico Rosberg replace
Nick Heidfeld, who departed for
BMW Sauber, while
Mark Webber stayed on with the team. Despite having signed a contract to race for Williams,
Jenson Button decided 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 Button himself, to cancel this contract. Williams and Cosworth entered a partnership agreement where Cosworth would supply engines, transmissions and associated electronics and software for the team. Major sponsors Hewlett-Packard concluded sponsorship agreements one year before their official end of contract. The Williams team also switched to
Bridgestone tyres. The season started well, with both drivers scoring points in the opening race of the season, and Nico Rosberg setting the fastest lap at the
Bahrain Grand Prix. The rest of the season was disappointing for Williams, with 20 retirements out of 36 starts for the two cars. The team failed to finish on the podium all season, the first time this had happened since Williams's debut season in 1977. The team eventually finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship, with only 11 points.
Customer Toyota engines (2007–2009) 2007–2009 seasons at the
2007 Malaysian Grand Prix at the
2008 Canadian Grand Prix at the
2009 Turkish Grand Prix Following Williams's worst points tally since , the team announced that Japanese manufacturer Toyota would be supplying the leased customer engines for the season. In addition, the Toyota engine customer deal also included
Magneti Marelli Step 11 engine control unit (ECU) systems and
Panasonic battery package as it was used by
works Toyota team. A number of other changes were announced for 2007:
Alexander Wurz, who had been a test driver at Williams since 2006, became the team's second driver to replace the outgoing Mark Webber; Japanese driver
Kazuki Nakajima, son of
Satoru, replaced Wurz as a test driver alongside Karthikeyan. Sponsorship saw a change in 2007, as it was announced that
AT&T would become the title sponsors for the team from the upcoming season. AT&T was 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. On 2 February, the new FW29 was presented to the media in the UK. Soon afterwards, the team secured a sponsorship deal with
Lenovo who built the team's new supercomputer. Rosberg and Wurz gave Williams a more productive season in terms of points and, in
Montreal, Wurz scored the team's first podium finish since Nick Heidfeld's second-place at the
2005 European Grand Prix. Over the course of the year, Rosberg was consistently in the points, scoring 20 during the season; in comparison, teammate Wurz finished in the points three times. Following the announcement that Wurz would be retiring from the sport, Williams brought in their young test driver Nakajima to drive the second car for them in the final race in
Brazil. The Japanese driver finished in tenth despite starting from near the back of the grid, while Rosberg enjoyed his best race of the season, finishing in fourth. Williams finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship that year. For the season, Williams confirmed Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima as their race drivers. Rosberg was confirmed as staying with Williams until the end of on 9 December 2007, ending speculation that he could take
Fernando Alonso's vacated seat at McLaren. During the Winter testing sessions, the team ran six different liveries to celebrate their 30th year in the sport and their 500th Grand Prix. The 2008 season was a mixture of success and disappointment for Williams. While Rosberg managed to obtain 2 podiums in
Australia and
Singapore, the team struggled at circuits with high-speed corners. The fact that the team was one of the first to switch development to their 2009 car (when new regulations came in) also hindered their season and Williams finished a disappointing 8th in the Constructors' Championship. Rosberg stated that unless the team was more competitive in the near future, he would look to drive elsewhere. Williams retained Rosberg and Nakajima for the 2009 season. Frank Williams had admitted that he had regretted parting with BMW but stated that Toyota had a tremendous ability to become a top engine supplier. Speculation had been surrounding Toyota's future on the Formula 1 grid. This was due to the fact that for a big-budget team, Toyota had only managed second place as their best result. In December 2008, Williams confirmed their commitment to F1 following the
Honda withdrawal announcement. Ahead of the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, Williams announced that it would be ending its three-year partnership with Toyota and finding a new engine supplier for 2010.
Return to Cosworth engines (2010–2011) 2010–2011 seasons at the
2010 Malaysian Grand Prix After the termination of their Toyota contract, Williams announced that from the season they were to enter into a "long-term partnership" with
Cosworth, and would be using an updated version of the CA V8 engine which powered their cars in 2006. Williams also announced a complete driver change for the 2010 season.
Rubens Barrichello joined from 2009 Constructors' Champion
Brawn GP, whilst GP2 champion
Nico Hülkenberg graduated from the test driver seat. Replacing Hülkenberg in the test seat was Finland's
Valtteri Bottas, who finished third in the
2009 Formula Three Euroseries as well as winning the non-championship
Masters of Formula 3 event at
Zandvoort. Their new 2010 car, the
Williams FW32, was unveiled for the first time at a shakedown test at
Silverstone. Its first official test was on 1 February at
Circuit Ricardo Tormo in
Valencia. Hülkenberg took the team's first pole position in over five years, in variable conditions at the . Hülkenberg was dropped from the team ahead of the season, and replaced by Venezuelan newcomer and reigning
GP2 Series champion
Pastor Maldonado. The combination of Barrichello and Maldonado meant that 2011 would be the first time since 1981 that Williams would start a season without a European driver in their line-up. At the second pre-season test in Jerez, Barrichello posted the fastest time of the week on the last day. That was to no avail as Williams endured one of their worst seasons to date: two ninth places for Barrichello and one tenth place for Maldonado were their best results during the entire year. After Brazil, the team ended with a ninth place in the Constructors' Championship.
Return to Renault engines (2012–2013) 2012–2013 seasons , the team's reserve driver, participated in 15 free practice sessions including at the then was promoted to a race seat for the season.|left On 4 July 2011, Williams announced they would be reuniting with engine-supplier Renault who were to supply the team's engines from 2012 onwards. On 1 December 2011, it was confirmed that Maldonado would be retained for the 2012 season, along with reserve driver
Valtteri Bottas, who took part in 15 Friday practice sessions. In January 2012, it was confirmed that Bruno Senna would be the driver to partner Maldonado, effectively ending Rubens Barrichello's F1 career. at the
2013 Malaysian Grand PrixPrior to the 2012 season, Patrick Head moved from the Williams F1 team to Williams Hybrid Power Limited, another subsidiary of Williams Grand Prix Holdings. The team also announced that its relationship with AT&T ended by mutual agreement, and there were negotiations with another telecommunications company for team's title sponsorship. At the
2012 Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado took his only Grand Prix victory, which was also Williams's first race victory since
2004 Brazilian Grand Prix. Around 90 minutes after celebrating this win, a fire broke out in the garage of the Williams team, damaging the FW34 of
Bruno Senna and leaving several injured. The team eventually achieved eighth position in the Formula One World Constructors' Championship.
Claire Williams, the daughter of team principal Frank Williams, was appointed deputy principal in March 2013. Maldonado was retained by the team for and was joined by Bottas, promoted from his role as test driver. The team struggled throughout the season, despite a good qualifying session at the
Canadian Grand Prix and a place in the top 10 at the
United States Grand Prix, scoring only five points in the World Constructors' Championship. While Williams enjoyed a victory in the 2012 season and occasional points finishes, they did not reach the same heights as was achieved during their domination of Formula One during the 1990s. This, combined with an absolutely dismal 2013 season, prompted Williams to look for a new engine supplier from the 2014 season onwards.
Mercedes power units (2014–present) at the
2014 Chinese Grand Prix 2014–2017 seasons: Initial highs followed by the start of another decline at the
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix|left In May 2013, Williams signed a long-term contract with Mercedes to supply engines for the team, the German manufacturer providing 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines from the start of the 2014 season. Bottas was retained as driver for , and
Felipe Massa was signed from
Ferrari to replace Maldonado. The team also unveiled a new, multi-year title sponsorship deal with drinks brand
Martini. The team won its first pole position since 2012, courtesy of Massa at the ; it was the only time that
Mercedes would be beaten to pole position over the course of the 2014 season. With Bottas qualifying alongside Massa, it was also the first time the team had locked out the front row since the
2003 German Grand Prix. The team enjoyed an upturn in performance, including a double podium in
Abu Dhabi, resulting in them taking third place in the Constructors' Championship. They repeated this feat in the season, despite a low-key season owing to the resurgence of
Ferrari. The team went into the season with Bottas and Massa retained. Former
Ferrari Driver Academy member
Lance Stroll joined the team as a development driver;
Alex Lynn became a reserve driver with
Paul di Resta who was announced on 13 March, following
Susie Wolff's retirement from motorsport. In September 2016, Massa announced his intentions to retire from Formula One, with Stroll later announced as his replacement for . Following
Nico Rosberg's decision to retire, the team released Bottas from his contract to allow him to take his place at
Mercedes, with Massa returning to the team on a one-year deal. Massa was forced to withdraw from the
2017 Hungarian Grand Prix due to illness; the team then announced that
Paul di Resta would be racing alongside Stroll instead.
2018–2019: Continued decline On 4 November 2017,
Felipe Massa announced his decision to retire from F1.
Renault reserve driver and
2016 GP2 Series 3rd-place finisher
Sergey Sirotkin was signed as his replacement for , with
Robert Kubica joining the team as a reserve and development driver. driving the
Williams FW41 at the
2018 Chinese Grand Prix Williams struggled over the course of the 2018 season, scoring only 7 points and finishing last in the Constructors' Championship standings. Although the
FW41 rarely suffered from reliability issues, it was significantly off the pace; the team's highest finish was Stroll's 8th-place finish in
Azerbaijan. The team's only other points finish was at the , with Stroll finishing 9th and Sirotkin scoring his first championship point in 10th. This was also the only Grand Prix of the season in which the team reached the third qualifying session, with Stroll starting 10th on the grid. at the
2019 Austrian Grand Prix|leftOn 27 February 2018,
Martini announced that they would leave Williams and Formula One at the end of the 2018 season. On 12 October 2018, the team announced that reigning
Formula 2 champion
George Russell would be joining the team for the season. On 22 November 2018 it was announced that reserve driver
Robert Kubica would be promoted to the other seat, marking his return to Formula One after eight years away from the sport due to injury. For the 2019 season, the team entered into a partnership with Polish petroleum company
PKN Orlen and a multi-year title sponsorship arrangement with telecommunications company ROKiT. Williams missed the first two-and-a-half days of pre-season testing in
Barcelona due to the
FW42 not yet being ready, the only team to suffer such a setback. Williams began the season out of reach from being competitive. During qualifying at the season-opener in
Australia, their fastest time was almost 1.3 seconds slower than the nearest competitor. In the race, Russell and Kubica finished two and three laps behind the leader respectively. The team's best result of the season came in
Germany, where Kubica was classified 10th, the team's only points finish that season. However, this result only came after post-race penalties for other drivers. Upgrades came during the season with which the FW42 began to catch up to its competitors; Russell came within 0.1 seconds of reaching Q2 in qualifying for the and finished close to the points with 12th in
Brazil. However, both cars would be eliminated in Q1 at every race of the season. Despite the team's lack of performance in comparison to 2014–2017, it was confirmed that Williams have extended their engine supplier partnership with Mercedes until 2025. On 19 September 2019, Williams announced that Kubica had decided to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season; he would go on to join
Alfa Romeo as a reserve driver.
2019 Formula 2 Championship runner-up
Nicholas Latifi was promoted from his role of reserve driver to replace Kubica for the season.
Jack Aitken replaced Latifi as reserve driver. In May 2020, following publication of significant losses in 2019, Williams announced the immediate termination of its title sponsorship deal with ROKiT. at the
2020 Tuscan Grand Prix|left
2020–2022: Team sale to Dorilton Capital and Capito era In the opening race of 2020, the
2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Latifi reached 11th place, just outside the points, whereas in qualifying Russell was only 0.15 seconds away from reaching Q2 (Russell retired in the race with a fuel pressure issue). In the wet qualifying for the next race, the
Styrian Grand Prix, Russell succeeded in making it out of Q1, the first time a Williams driver had done so since the
2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, and, in the slippery conditions, qualified in 12th. Russell started the race in 11th, following the application of penalties for other drivers. At the
2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, both drivers made it out of Q1 for the first time since the
2018 Italian Grand Prix. It was Russell's second time getting out of Q1, and Latifi's first time getting out of Q1. driving
Williams FW43B at the
2021 Austrian Grand PrixOn 21 August 2020, Williams was acquired by US investment group Dorilton Capital for €152 million. The amount includes settling the debt of the company and it will continue to run under the Williams name and keep its UK base. Despite being offered the chance to stay on as Team Principal,
Claire Williams announced her departure from the team effective after the weekend of the
2020 Italian Grand Prix. Following this announcement, it will be the first time Williams F1 Team has not been under the leadership of the Williams family since its inception 43 years prior.
Simon Roberts, who joined Williams from
McLaren in May 2020, became the acting team principal of the team. In December 2020, Williams announced
Jost Capito will be joining Williams as the new CEO, with Roberts becoming team principal and reporting to Capito. Williams failed to score a point in the 2020 season that had been disrupted and shortened by the
COVID-19 pandemic, making it their first pointless season in 44 years. at '
The Silverstone Classic'. This car was driven in the season by
Alexander Albon,
Nicholas Latifi and
Nyck de Vries. During the
2021 Monaco Grand Prix, Williams celebrated their 750th Grand Prix start. To celebrate the occasion, Williams launched a competition where the names of 100 Williams supporters were featured on their car, the
Williams FW43B, together with the number of races since they started supporting Williams. In June 2021, Roberts left the team. Most of his responsibilities were taken over by Capito, with
François-Xavier Demaison taking his trackside leadership duties. The
2021 Hungarian Grand Prix saw Williams score their first points since the
2019 German Grand Prix with
Robert Kubica, and their first double points finish since the
2018 Italian Grand Prix. At the
2021 Belgian Grand Prix, Russell qualified in 2nd place and scored Williams's first podium since the
2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as the race was stopped after only two laps under safety car conditions were completed, allowing most drivers to retain their qualifying position. The team also achieved a second consecutive double points finish, as Latifi finished 9th. Russell scored back-to-back points at the
2021 Italian Grand Prix and at the
2021 Russian Grand Prix (9th and 10th respectively; in the latter he qualified 3rd, behind
Carlos Sainz Jr. and pole-sitter
Lando Norris). Williams finished in 8th place in the Constructors' Championship with 23 points, 10 points ahead of
Alfa Romeo, which finished in 9th place. For the
2022 season, Russell left Williams to join the
Mercedes works team, whose junior team he had been a part of. Ex-
Red Bull driver,
Alex Albon, was signed to replace Russell. Latifi retained his spot in the team. Prior to the season, Williams announced a partnership deal with the battery manufacturer
Duracell. Albon scored the team's first points of the season in the
Australian Grand Prix, where he pitted only once on the last lap and finished tenth. Albon also finished ninth in the
Miami Grand Prix. Latifi achieved his first ever Q3 appearance at the
British Grand Prix, though he dropped out of the points and finished in twelfth. Following a number of penalties for other drivers at the
Belgian Grand Prix, Albon qualified ninth and started sixth. Albon went on to score Williams's third point position finish by ending the race in tenth. Prior to the
third practice session at the Italian Grand Prix, Albon withdrew after feeling ill and suffering from
appendicitis. Williams announced
Nyck de Vries as the replacement. In his first ever
qualifying session, de Vries qualified thirteenth, but started eighth after penalties. de Vries went on to finish ninth, scoring points on his debut.
2023–present: Improvements under James Vowles Preceding the start of the 2023 race year, Mercedes ex-chief strategist James Vowles was announced to take over as the Team's new Principal, following the resignation of former Team Principal Jost Capito in 2022. featured a special
Gulf Oil livery, here displayed on a show car, in 2023. Williams finished 2023 in seventh, finding themselves outside the points in most of the races. For the season, Williams announced a long-term partnership with
Gulf Oil. Albon's contract had been extended, partnering rookie
Logan Sargeant; Sargeant, who replaced the departing
Nicholas Latifi, was the first American driver to race in Formula One since
Alexander Rossi drove for the former
Marussia F1 team for five races in . Sargeant scored his first, and ultimately only, point at the
2023 United States Grand Prix, attributed to two disqualifications. The season-opener of the saw Albon score one point in tenth ahead of Sargeant, who finished twelfth. Albon retired at the following race at the due to a brake failure with Sargeant placing sixteenth after he failed to set a time within the
107% rule in qualification due to mechanical issues. In the , Albon retired again after losing control of his car and crashing heavily early into the race, causing a red flag. Sargeant, meanwhile, crashed with
AlphaTauri driver
Nyck de Vries during lap 56 of 58 after a restart. However, Sargeant was classified as having finished 16th, given that he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. and
Logan Sargeant at the 2024 season launch at the Puma Flagship Store in
New York City. Sargeant was dropped mid-season after prolonged underperformance.|left Albon and Sargeant were retained for the season. The latter was due to be replaced by
Carlos Sainz Jr. in the season. However, Sargeant was released after the
2024 Dutch Grand Prix due to his underperformances and his crash in the third practice section. His replacement, from the
2024 Italian Grand Prix to the end of the season, was current
Formula 2 driver and
Williams Driver Academy member
Franco Colapinto, who would become the first Argentine driver to compete in F1 since
Gastón Mazzacane in . Following the conclusion of the 2024 season, Colapinto returned to his role as reserve driver, until he was signed by
Alpine in 2025. drives the
Williams FW47 at the
2025 Japanese Grand Prix. The Williams package was vastly improved compared to previous seasons, and the team finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship. In February 2025, Williams announced a record multi-year title sponsorship with
Atlassian and have entered the
2025 season as Atlassian Williams Racing. Williams found themselves much more competitive than other seasons, with new signee Sainz scoring Williams' first podium since 2021 at the
Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and the team's first
sprint race podium at the
United States Grand Prix. Near the end of the season, the team announced it will rebrand as Atlassian Williams F1 Team from the
2026 season onwards. According to Head of Creative Design Ed Scott, the rebranding was partially due to the Williams Racing name being confused for horse racing. In January 2026, Williams announced that they will miss the pre-season shakedown test due to delays completing the
FW48 with the new regulations. ==Williams Group==