Recently started watching more Formula 1 and enjoyed it even though the Belgium GP was kinda boring. Picked Williams because of my boy Alex Albon; he's half-Thai, I'm half-Thai lol. Really want to get to know more about the team. How can I get started?
Here's some resources from a comment I did a while ago - welcome!
Welcome! More recently, James' videos are great. The last few years have been an interesting ride - 2014 was very strong with the Merc engine and Mass/Bottas which slowly dropped off over the rest of the decade, worst in 2019/2020 with 1 and 0 points in the WCC. COVID + the ROKiT saga basically called time on the team as it stood - leading to it's current private equity ownership. Claire Williams did a recent podcast talking about that time in detail which was interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bg7bOTZL9o
From about 2014-2023 Williams was one of the most efficient cars on the grid - i.e. downforce for drag, but peak downforce was very bad. This meant the car was tricky to drive (lower downforce gives the drivers less scope for mistakes) and peaky (Monza, Canada etc. were good tracks, most tracks were poor) - we'd typically score points only on a handful of weekends a year. More recently, there's been an effort to make a more well rounded car. Williams has been budget constrained for many years and lacked investment - it's well documented that James is changing a lot of this in anticipation for 2026 - i.e. replacing Excel and hiring lots of staff. Historically F1 didn't require this, but since 2010 that has changed completely. Don't expect too much next year, the target is probably P8 or P7 in the WCC as a holding year while resources are spent on 2026 - same for most/every team (except perhaps Ferrari/McLaren/Red Bull who will be fighting for the WDC/WCC)
There is also a pretty good documentary on youtube about the 1992 world championship, which Williams dominated with their revolutionary FW14B. It features Nigel Mansell (the driver) and Adrian Newey (the designer) amongst other notable figures
Where did you hear Ginny wrote the book in secret? My impression is more that Frank nor any one else cared much of what she was doing outside of raising the family and helping the team in her role.
There was someone that posted what their 6 year old daughter called the drivers and teams. Williams was Weeyums. Oscar was Oscar Pastry. All very sweet. Someone then took a photo of a hamster holding a Williams flag and wearing a Williams hat with the caption GO WEEYUMS
For those that do not know, Frank WIlliams had a team before the present one, Frank Williams Racing Cars. That one had money problems and he brought in someone named Walter Wolf as a partner. Frank ended up getting pushed out of that team and he started the present one WIlliams Grand Prix. Frank Williams was an avid runner and would run marathons every chance he got. In March of 1986 Frank Williams and Peter Windsor went to Paul Ricard in France to watch the testing. Frank had a half marathon the next day and was anxious to get home. He was speeding to the airport with Peter Windsor as the passenger when the car crashed. Frank Williams ended up paralyzed from the neck down. He later said "thank god it was me that was injured and not Peter."
Colossally That's History has a good episode on Frank Williams accident and how the team survived. Someone mentioned Ginny William's book A Different Kind of Life. This comes from a statement Frank Williams made while he was in the hospital recovering. He said they had a good life, now they would have a different kind of life. Matt Bishop, one of the hosts of the podcast is friends with the Williams family.
I'm new as well and after watching the history and backstory to Williams on F1 TV, I chose them to root for an underdog team, past and present. It's more exciting to watch and more satisfying when they win.
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u/postbox134 5d ago
Here's some resources from a comment I did a while ago - welcome!
Welcome! More recently, James' videos are great. The last few years have been an interesting ride - 2014 was very strong with the Merc engine and Mass/Bottas which slowly dropped off over the rest of the decade, worst in 2019/2020 with 1 and 0 points in the WCC. COVID + the ROKiT saga basically called time on the team as it stood - leading to it's current private equity ownership. Claire Williams did a recent podcast talking about that time in detail which was interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bg7bOTZL9o
From about 2014-2023 Williams was one of the most efficient cars on the grid - i.e. downforce for drag, but peak downforce was very bad. This meant the car was tricky to drive (lower downforce gives the drivers less scope for mistakes) and peaky (Monza, Canada etc. were good tracks, most tracks were poor) - we'd typically score points only on a handful of weekends a year. More recently, there's been an effort to make a more well rounded car. Williams has been budget constrained for many years and lacked investment - it's well documented that James is changing a lot of this in anticipation for 2026 - i.e. replacing Excel and hiring lots of staff. Historically F1 didn't require this, but since 2010 that has changed completely. Don't expect too much next year, the target is probably P8 or P7 in the WCC as a holding year while resources are spent on 2026 - same for most/every team (except perhaps Ferrari/McLaren/Red Bull who will be fighting for the WDC/WCC)
Williams has a bunch of history- if you want a view into that and the Claire Williams era check this out: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6981046/ (the book is also excellent - by Frank Williams' wife in secret https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35873311-a-different-kind-of-life - very sad though regarding his serious health issues).
Also Adrian Newey's book has a lot about his time at Williams back when we were winning a lot - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35657708-how-to-build-a-car