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Topic = Williams F1, behind the rise and fall.

How Williams dominated in the 1980s and now in 2020s having a season where they do not score a point.

Year by year

https://www.formula1.com/en/teams/Williams/Year_by_Year.html

First win = 1979 Clay Regazzoni

First Championship = 1980 Alan Johns, both Constructor and Driver Championships

Season	Drivers	Constructors	points
1978	11th	9th	11
1979	3rd & 5th	2nd	75
1980	1st & 3rd	1st	120
1981	2nd & 3rd	1st	95
1982	1st & 13th	4th	58
1983	5th & 11th	4th	36
1984	8th & 14th	6th	22.5
1985	3rd & 6th	4th	71
1986	2nd & 3rd	1st	141
1987	1st & 2nd	1st	137
1988	9th & 11th	7th	20
1989	3rd & 5th	2nd	77
1990	6th & 7th	4th	57
1991	2nd & 3rd	2nd	125
1992	1st & 2nd	1st	164
1993	1st & 3rd	1st	168
1994	2nd & 8th & 9th	1st	118
1995	2nd & 3rd	2nd	112
1996	1st & 2nd	1st	175
1997	1st & 2nd (3rd but FIA)	1st	123
1998	5th & 7th	3rd	38
1999	6th	5th	35
2000	5th & 8th	3rd	36
2001	4th & 6th	3rd	80
2002	3rd & 4th	2nd	92
2003	3rd & 5th	2nd	144
2004	5th & 9th	4th	88
2005	10th & 11th	5th	66
2006	14th & 17th	8th	11
2007	9th & 11th & 22nd	4th	33
2008	13th & 15th	8th	26
2009	7th & 20th	7th	34.5
2010	10th & 14th	6th	69
2011	17th & 19th	9th	5
2012	15th & 16th	8th	76
2013	17th & 18th	9th	5
2014	4th & 7th	3rd	320
2015	5th & 6th	3rd	257
2016	8th & 11th	5th	138
2017	11th & 12th	5th	83
2018	18th & 20th	10th	7
2019	19th & 20th	10th	1
2020	18th & 21st & 22nd	10th	0
2021	15th & 17th	8th	23
2022	19th & 20th & 21st	10th	8
2023	13th & 21st	7th	28

Current Season

This table shows how Williams finished 7 in Constructors Championship this year

F1 Academy

Williams have recruited Lia Block, Daughter of legendary Rally Driver Ken Block, to race in F1 Academy.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.williams-recruit-lia-block-for-2024-f1-academy-season.2eHtC1cTjoi0BLdYrFqVGD.html

F1 Academy has replaced the old W Series racing series. These leagues are for Women at the pinacol of motorsport.

The Cars are slower than normal F1 cars, they are closer to F2 and F3 cars.

Williams Racing have entered a team into F1 Academy

Touring Cars

Williams entered a team in BTCC in 1995 with Renault. They had 1991 Touring Car world Champion.  Will Hoy and Alain Menu from the original Renault dealer racing team.

During Williams and Renault entering a team in the BTCC, they created a iconic car, the Renault Clio Williams.

In 1993, Renault launched the Clio Williams as a limited addition of 3,800. Each car was sold with a plaque on the dash. These sold out quickly so Renault ended up building 1,600 more. It featured a naturally aspirated 2.0L engine, producing 145hp. Renault later released the Williams 2 and Williams 3 special additions.

Williams entered a 1994 Laguna Hybrid race car into the 1995 BTCC season. After 5 races in their debut season, they secured a Pole position and a win. Alan Menu was rarely off the podium throughout the whole season. The team ended up winning the final 5 races. Will Hoy winning 2 and Alan Menu winning 3.

The team ended up winning the manufactures championship in their debut year.

The Renault Clio Williams in its iconic blue featured as the safety car in the 1996 Formula One Season. Featuring in the 1996 Argentine Grand Prix, the little 1.8L hatchback lead a queue containing the likes of Damon Hill, Jos Verstappen and even Michael Schumacher.

SOURCE ANALYSIS

Main Source = https://www.formula1.com/ - very reliable, mostly unbiased articles produced by a wide range of people. Most common article writer is Lawrence Barretto who is a F1 Correspondent and presenter.

Other sources = https://www.motorsport.com/ - some articles can be biased but majority come from a neutral viewpoint. The writers for motorsport include many renowned motorsports journalists.

SIR FRANK WILLIAMS

https://www.salracing.com/story/2019/7/the-sir-frank-williams-story

Sir Frank Williams was the owner and Co-founder of Williams Grand Prix Engineering. In 2019, he celebrated a record braking 50 years as a Formula One Team Principle.

Sir Frank Williams had a love for motorsport since a young age. Having a short racing career in Formula 3 and in Salon Cars.

After his short racing career, he set up Frank Williams Racing Cars. He then proceeded to buy a Brabham F1 Chassis and enter in the 1969 Formula One Campaign.

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/39428940/formula-one-rejects-andretti-bid-join-2025-2026

TOPIC CHOICE

The reason I have picked this topic is because I am very intrigued by how Sir Frank Williams started his formula one team and the mighty legacy the team has built. How he went from running a formula One Team out of a small garage to being one of the most recognizable teams on the grid today. Williams is also a perfect team to choose since they have had many ups and downs in motorsport and I find it really interesting finding out how the team overcame the hurdles in becoming a front runner team. Currently, Williams haven't seen a lot of success since 2015. A glimpse of hope was shown when Number 1 Driver George Russell finished 2nd at the Belgium grand prix.

POSSIBLE PROJECT QUESTIONS

Could a Frank Williams figure achieve Formula 1 success in the modern era?

Is Formula 1 now just dominated by the big businesses?

Was the fate of Williams in F1 racing inevitable?

Is it possible to build a winning F1 team from the ground up?

HOW HARD IS IT FOR A NEW TEAM TO ENTER FORMULA 1?

Formula one is built up of 10 teams and 20 drivers(not including reserve and academy drivers). Recently on the 13th of April 2024, Andretti Racing revealed a new Headquarters at Silverstone, hoping that creating the facilities will give them a guaranteed entry into Formula One racing. https://www.planetf1.com/news/andretti-confirm-key-meeting-formula-1-11th-team-bid37

Williams and the 2019 season depending fault.

During the 2019 formula one season Williams formula one team ended up only scoring 1 point in 21 races, finishing last in the constructors championship. At the beginning of 2019 season Williams looked promising with Kubica getting to grips with his return to formula one and having one of Mercedes and F2 Champion George Russell in their driver line up. At the beginning of the season, if you went up to any F1 fan and asked them about Williams, they would have responded with the answer that they expect the team to bounce back after the poor 2018 season where they finished with 7 points. During the 2017 season, Williams was a forward midfield team challenging for the odd podium, scrapping the points from the front runners.