may require copy editing for grammar and tense . . you can assist by editing it . february 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message coordinates 51 37 5 n 1 24 46 w 51.61806 n 1.41278 w 51.61806 ; 1.41278 not to be confused with former formula one team frank williams racing cars formed by frank williams in 1967 or wolf williams racing formed by frank williams and walter wolf in 1976 . williams mercedes full name williams martini racing 1 base grove wantage oxfordshire united kingdom team principal s sir frank williams claire williams obe deputy group ceo mike o driscoll technical director pat symonds cto rob smedley head of performance engineering founder s sir frank williams sir patrick head website www.williamsf1.com 2016 formula one season race drivers 19 . felipe massa 2 77 . valtteri bottas 2 test drivers paul di resta reserve driver alex lynn development driver gary paffett simulation driver lance stroll 3 chassis fw38 engine mercedes pu106c hybrid 4 tyres pirelli formula one world championship career first entry as a team 1977 spanish grand prix as a constructor 1978 argentine grand prix last entry 2016 japanese grand prix races entered as a team 665 entries 661 starts as a constructor 653 entries 652 starts constructors championships 9 1980 1981 1986 1987 1992 1993 1994 1996 1997 drivers championships 7 1980 1982 1987 1992 1993 1996 1997 race victories 114 pole positions 128 fastest laps 133 2015 position 3rd 257 pts formula one portal williams grand prix engineering limited fwb wgf1 currently racing in formula one as williams martini racing is a british formula one motor racing team and constructor . it was founded and is run by team owner sir frank williams and automotive engineer sir patrick head . the team was formed in 1977 after frank williams two earlier unsuccessful f1 operations frank williams racing cars 1969 to 1975 and wolf williams racing 1976 . all of williams f1 chassis are called fw then a number the fw being the initials of team owner frank williams . williams s first race was the 1977 spanish grand prix where the new team ran a march chassis for patrick n ve . williams started manufacturing its own cars the following year and switzerland s clay regazzoni won williams s first race at the 1979 british grand prix . at the 1997 british grand prix canadian jacques villeneuve scored the team s 100th race victory making williams one of only three teams in formula one alongside ferrari and fellow british team mclaren to win 100 races . williams won nine constructors championships between 1980 and 1997 . this stood as a record until ferrari surpassed it in 2000 . drivers for williams have included australia s alan jones ; finland s keke rosberg ; britain s nigel mansell damon hill and jenson button ; france s alain prost ; brazil s nelson piquet and ayrton senna and canada s jacques villeneuve each of whom with the exception of senna and button have captured one drivers title with the team . of those who have won the championship with williams only jones rosberg and villeneuve actually defended their title while still with the team . piquet moved to lotus after winning the 1987 championship mansell moved to the american based indy cars after winning the 1992 championship prost retired from racing after his 4th world championship in 1993 while hill moved to arrows after winning in 1996 . williams have worked with many engine manufacturers most successfully with renault williams won five of their nine constructors titles with the french company . along with ferrari mclaren benetton and renault williams is one of a group of five teams that won every constructors championship between 1979 and 2008 and every drivers championship from 1984 to 2008 . williams f1 also has business interests beyond formula one racing . it has established williams advanced engineering and williams hybrid power which take technology originally developed for formula one and adapt it for commercial applications . in april 2014 williams hybrid power were sold to gkn . williams advanced engineering had a technology centre in qatar until it was closed in 2014 . contents 1 origins 2 ownership 3 racing history formula one 3.1 ford cosworth engines 1977 1983 3.2 honda engines 1983 1987 3.3 judd engines 1988 3.4 renault engines 1989 1997 3.5 mecachrome engines 1998 3.6 supertec engines 1999 3.7 bmw partnership 2000 2005 3.8 cosworth engines 2006 3.9 toyota engines 2007 2009 3.9.1 2007 09 seasons 3.10 return to cosworth engines 2010 2011 3.10.1 2010 11 seasons 3.11 return to renault engines 2012 2013 3.11.1 2012 13 seasons 3.12 mercedes benz power units 2014 present 3.12.1 2014 16 seasons 3.13 formula one results 3.14 drivers champions 4 williams advanced engineering 4.1 williams advanced engineering 4.2 williams hybrid power 4.3 williams heritage 5 other motorsports and williams branded cars 5.1 formula 2 5.2 group b rallying 1985 1986 5.3 british touring car championship 1995 1999 5.4 le mans 24 hours and sportscars 1998 2000 5.5 renault clio williams 5.6 porsche ag 911 gt3r hybrid 5.7 formula e 6 footnotes 7 references 8 external links origins edit see also frank williams racing cars wolf williams racing and walter wolf racing frank williams started the current williams team in 1977 after his previous outfits frank williams racing cars failed to achieve the success he desired . despite the promise of a new owner in the form of canadian millionaire walter wolf the team was wolf williams racing in 1976 but the cars were not competitive . eventually williams left the rechristened walter wolf racing and moved to didcot to rebuild his team as williams grand prix engineering . frank recruited young engineer patrick head to work for the team creating the williams head partnership . 5 ownership edit it was reported on 20 november 2009 by reuters that williams and patrick head had sold a minority interest in their team to an investment company led by austrian toto wolff 6 who has stated that it is purely a commercial decision . 7 in february 2011 williams f1 announced their intention to float via an initial public offering on the frankfurt stock exchange from march 2011 . swiss based bank am bellevue ag will act as sole global co ordinator of up to 27.39 % of existing shares a total of 2 739 383 shares . the shares will be offered to the public in the uk germany switzerland and austria ; while private institutional investment will be available to organisations in other eu countries plus the united states canada japan and australia . sir frank williams will remain majority shareholder and team principal after the ipo . 8 the shares are valued at between 24 and 29 euros which values the williams f1 team at 265 million euros . racing history formula one edit ford cosworth engines 1977 1983 edit see also ford motor company and cosworth the original williams logo . 1977 season williams entered a customer march 761 for the 1977 season . lone driver patrick n ve appeared at 11 races that year starting with the spanish grand prix . the new team failed to score a point achieving a best finish of 7th at the italian grand prix . 9 1978 season the williams fw06 from 1978 being raced at silverstone in 2007 . for the 1978 season patrick head designed his first williams car the fw06 . williams signed australian alan jones who had won the austrian grand prix 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 argentine grand prix where he qualified the lone williams in 14th position but retired after 36 laps with a fuel system failure . the team scored its first championship points two rounds later at the south african grand prix when jones finished fourth . williams managed their first podium position at the us grand prix where the australian came second some 20 seconds behind the ferrari of future williams driver carlos reutemann . 10 williams ended the season in tenth place in the constructors championship with a respectable 16 points while alan jones finished 12th in the drivers championship . 1979 season head designed the fw07 for the 1979 season . this was the team s first ground effect car a technology 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 partnered by swiss driver clay regazzoni . 11 they had to wait until the seventh round of the championship the monaco grand prix for a points scoring position . regazzoni came close to taking the team s first win but finished second less than a second behind race winner jody scheckter . the next round at dijon is remembered for the final lap battle between ren arnoux and gilles villeneuve but also saw both cars finish in the points for the first time ; jones was fourth with regazzoni sixth . 12 the team s first win came at the 1979 british grand prix their home grand prix when regazzoni finished almost 25 seconds ahead of anyone else . things got even better when williams cars finished first and second at the next round in hockenheim alan jones two seconds ahead of regazzoni . jones then made it three wins in a row at the sterreichring finishing half a minute ahead of gilles villeneuve s ferrari . three wins in a row became four wins two weeks later at zandvoort alan jones winning again by a comfortable margin over jody scheckter s ferrari . scheckter ended the williams winning streak when he won ferrari s home italian grand prix regazzoni finishing third behind both ferraris . alan jones managed another win at the penultimate race at montreal to cap off a great season . williams had greatly improved their constructors championship position finishing eight 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 the australian scored 43 points 17 behind the south african while jones s team mate regazzoni was two places behind him with 32 points . 1980 season in 1980 alan jones partnered the argentine carlos reutemann . the team started well in the championship with jones winning the first round of the season in argentina . jones won four more races paul ricard brands hatch montreal and the final round at watkins glen . 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 the duo won four races for the williams team in the 1981 season . alan jones won at the first round at long beach and the final round at las vegas while carlos reutemann won at the second round at jacarepagua and the fifth round at zolder . williams won the constructors title for the second year running scoring 95 points 34 points more than second placed brabham . 1982 season keke rosberg s williams fw08 . this car was used during the 1982 season where rosberg won the drivers championship recording only a single win over the course of the season . alan jones retired from formula one only to come back a year later for a single race with the arrows team . the australian was replaced by finnish driver keke rosberg who had not scored a single championship point the previous year . he won the drivers title that year ; winning only one race the swiss grand prix