http://www.bmw.williamsf1.com/
Williams has been the most successful GP team by far in recent years, with four drivers' and five constructors' titles since 1991, but fortunes were not always so good.
In the early 1970s, Frank Williams' outfit was always under-financed, and success was elusive. After a brief collaboration with Walter Wolf, Williams set up on his own again in 1977. The talented Patrick Head was hired as designer and, when major backing from Saudia Airlines was acquired, things looked up.
The 1979 season brought the first win - fittingly on home soil, with Clay Regazzoni beating the rapid Renault turbos to the finish line. Four further wins from Australian Alan Jones completed a succesful year that left the team second in the Constructors' Championship.
A first drivers' championship for Alan Jones and constructors' title for Williams in 1980, was followed by a second Constructors' Championship in 1981. New signing Keke Rosberg provided another drivers' title in 1982, but a lack of continuity in the second seat failed to net the constructors' title on which Williams places so much emphasis.
A lean year with Ford power in 1983, the exception being a fine victory for Rosberg at a wet Monaco, was followed by Williams' first year of what would become a powerful partnership with Honda.
The relationship took time to gel, but wins in 1985 were followed by the promise of crushing superioroty in 1986.
Team-mates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet indeed dominated the year, until tyre problems allowed McLaren's Alain Prost to slip through at the final round. This was all achieved despite Frank Williams being paralysed in a road crash.
The Honda partnership ended in 1987, when the Japanese marque opted to supply McLaren - which went on to control the 1988 season. In their final year together, Nelson Piquet clinched the drivers' championship and the team took its fourth Constructors' Championship.
But, 1988 proved to be a difficult year. The team had to use Judd V8s and won nothing, despite a gutsy performance from Mansell in the wet at Silverstone.
Renault returned to F1 with Williams in 1989. The partnership would dominate the early 1990s, but the first two years only yielded four wins for Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese. After luring Nigel Mansell out of retirement, Williams challenged strongly for the championship in 1991 until Mansell crashed in Japan.
There would be no such disappointment in 1992, when the active suspension Williams was dramatically faster than the opposition and allowed Mansell to cruise to the title.
World Champion Alain Prost took Mansell's seat for 1993, and provided another title double with the assistance of test-graduate Damon Hill. When Prost retired at the end of the season, Ayrton Senna took the lead seat and was expected to dominate. The Brazilian's tragic death at Imola left Hill in charge, and the Englishman helped carry the team to its seventh Constructors' Championship.
The Williams was the best car in 1995, but Damon Hill and David Coulthard somehow contrived to lose both championships to Benetton and Michael Schumacher. Hill made up for it by winning the title in 1996, and Coulthard's replacement Jacques Villeneuve did likewise a year later.
There had been signs that the team was losing its edge in 1997, and in ‘98 it struggled to get results. The car was off the pace and the Mecachrome-Supertec engine the team was forced to use when Renualt withdrew, lacked power. Only Villeneuve’s heroics could get Williams near the front.
In 1999, Alex Zanardi, twice CART Champion in the USA lined up alongside Ralf Schumacher at the team. However, early season unreliability hampered the Italian's progress. He also struggled to adapt his driving style to suit modern Formula 1 cars. He was on his way out of the team by the time the season ended.
Ralf Schumacher on the other hand, impressed a great deal, with a number of consistent and quick performances despite lack of power from the Supertec V10. Schumacher's gutsy drive to third on the podium at the British Grand Prix, after brother Michael's crash, highlighted his professional attitude towards the team.
After splitting with Zanardi halfway through his two-year contract, Williams signed young F3 star Jenson Button for 2000. With new engine partner, BMW, entering the Formula 1 fray.
2000 Result - Third in Constructors' Championship, 36 points, no wins
2001 Line-up
- Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya. Test Driver - Marc Gene.