Atlassian Williams F1 Team

Williams is one of the last great traditional teams in Formula One built without a car manufacturer behind it. The British outfit was founded in 1977 by Frank Williams and engineer Patrick Head as Williams Grand Prix Engineering, after Frank Williams had already spent years struggling with earlier Formula One ventures of his own. From the late 1970s the team established itself in Grove, Oxfordshire, and quickly grew into one of the most successful outfits of its era.

A defining and tragic chapter in the team’s history came in 1986, when Frank Williams was left paralysed following a serious car accident. Against all expectations, he continued to lead the team from his wheelchair for decades to come, becoming one of the most popular and respected figures in the entire paddock, known for his sheer tenacity and dry sense of humour.

On track, Williams enjoyed its greatest era between the early 1980s and late 1990s, first with Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg, later with Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve behind the wheel, mostly powered by Renault engines. The sale to American investment firm Dorilton Capital in 2020 ended the team’s era as a family business, though it did not immediately halt the decline into the lower reaches of the standings that had set in during the 2000s and 2010s.

Since 2023, James Vowles, who arrived from Mercedes, has led the team as principal and steered a genuine turnaround: in 2025 Williams finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, its best result since 2017, including its first podiums in over eight years. With an unchanged driver line-up and a Mercedes power unit, the historic team enters the new 2026 regulation era with confidence.