This is an exclusive project of historic information from the world of Formula One. On The Grid chronicles the history of drivers with all Formula One teams dating back to 1950 to the present.

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WILLIAMS F1

TEAM: FRANK WILLIAMS RACING/WILLIAMS F1
NATIONALITY: GB
INCEPTION: 1969-1976/1977-
COMMENT:

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Williams-Brabham Cosworth (8th 16 pts.)
1969 Piers Courage GB 8th (16 pts.) In Courage’s hands, Williams’s dark-blue liveried Brabham BT26 was more than a match for many of the works teams. He finished second in both the Monaco Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix, at Watkins Glen. Perhaps his finest drive of the season though was during the 1969 Italian Grand Prix at the high-speed Monza circuit. Despite an older car, and a power deficit, he managed to stay with the leading pack for the majority of the race. Only fuel starvation caused his pace to slow near the end, and he finally finished in fifth. A second fifth place, in the British Grand Prix, saw Courage finish the season on 16 points in 8th place in the drivers’ championship.
Williams-De Tomaso Cosworth (NIL)
1970 Piers Courage GB NIL (Courage qualified in 9th place around the Zandvoort circuit. Running in the middle of the field Courage inexplicably slid wide on a bend, rode up an embankment and rolled upside-down, bursting into flames. To lighten the De Tomaso magnesium was used in its chassis and bodywork. The magnesium burned so intensely that nearby trees were set alight. Investigations revealed that Courage probably died before the flames started; his helmet was found at the point of impact with a large smear of rubber on the front, most likely from a wheel detached on impact. Just three years later Roger Williamson crashed fatally at the same corner. He was Frank William’s best friend and his loyal driver since 1967.
1970 Brian Redman GB NIL (2 races. Signed with Surtees-Ford)
1970 Tim Schenken AUS NIL (4 races. Signed with Brabham-Ford)
Marlboro Williams-March Cosworth (NIL)
1971 Henri Pescarolo F 17th (4 pts.) (STP
1971 Derek Bell GB NIL (Surtees-Ford)
1971 Ronnie Peterson S NIL (March-Ford)
1971 Ray Allen USA NIL (2 races. Retired from F.1)
1971 Cyd Williams GB NIL (1 race. Retired from F.1)
1971 Max Jean F NIL (Retired from F.1)
1971 Tony Trimmer GB NIL (1 race. Retired from F.1)
Politoys Williams-Motul Cosworth (NIL)
1972 Carlos Pace BR 18th (3 pts.) (Surtees-Ford)
1972 Henri Pescarolo F NIL (STP March-Cosworth. Returned to Frank Williams mid-season.)
ISO-Marlboro Williams-Cosworth (10th 2 pts.)
1973 Howden Ganley NZ 19th (1 pt.) (Retired from F.1.)
1973 Nanni Galli I NIL (Retired from F.1.)
1973 Jacky Pretorius RSA NIL (Retired from F.1. Jackie Pretorius died in Johannesburg aged 74, on 30 March 2009, after being in a coma for three weeks. He was attacked in his home early on a Friday morning by burglars. His wife Shirley died in a similar incident in the same house several years earlier.)
1973 Tom Belso DEN NIL
1973 Graham McRae GB NIL (Retired from F.1, but won his fifth F5000 title. McRae also set up McRae Cars, producing the Len Terry-designed Leda LT27 as the McRae GM1.)
1973 Gijs van Lennep NL 19th (1 pt.)
1973 Tim Schenken AUS NIL (Trojan-Tauranac-Cosworth)
1973 Jackie Ickx B NIL (1 race. Signed with John Player Special Lotus-
Ford)
1973 Henri Pescarolo F NIL (Motul BRM)
ISO-Marlboro Williams-Cosworth (10th 4 pts.)
1974 Tom Belso DEN NIL (Retired from F.1.)
1974 Gijs van Lennep NL NIL (Ensign-Ford)
1974 Arturo Merzario I 17th (4 pts.)
1974 Richard Robarts GB NIL (Brabham-Ford)
1974 Jean-Pierre Jabouille F NIL (Surtees-Ford)
1974 Jacques Laffite F NIL
Ambrozium Williams-Cosworth (9th 6 pts.)
1975 Arturo Merzario I NIL (Copersucar-Fittipaldi-Cosworth)
1975 Jacques Laffite F 12th (6 pts.) (Gitanes Ligier-Matra)
1975 Tony Brise GB NIL (Brise made his Grand Prix debut on April 27,
1975 for Williams but after one race switched to the team run by former world champion Graham Hill, where he showed great potential. Later in 1975 Hill, Brise and four other members of the team were killed when their plane, piloted by Hill, crashed at Arkley golf course, in thick fog.)
1975 Lella Lombardi I NIL (Lavazza March)
1975 Ian Scheckter RSA NIL (Lexington Tyrrell-Ford)
1975 Damien Magee GB NIL (March-Ford)
1975 francoise Migault F NIL (F2/24 Hours of Le Mans. Retired from professional racing.)
1975 Jo Vonlanthen CH NIL (Formula 2)
1975 Renzo Zorzi I NIL
1975 Ian Ashley GB NIL (Stanley BRM)

NOTE: In 1976, due to lack of funding, Walter Wolf stepped in and bought the team, but kept the team personnel, including Frank Williams. But by the next year, Frank Williams was fired although Walter Wolf offered Frank Williams a position in Wolf’s oil business. Williams declined and started his own team again, now called Williams F1 with designer, Patrick Head.) Osama bin Laden was one of their first co-sponsors.

Wolf Williams-Cosworth (NIL)
1976 Renzo Zorzi I NIL (Shadow-Cosworth)
1976 Jackie Ickx B NIL (Ensign-Ford)
1976 Chris Amon NZ NIL (Retired from professional racing to run the family farm.)
1976 Michel Leclere F NIL (Formula 2. Retired from professional racing.)
1976 Arturo Merzario I NIL (Merzario-March Cosworth)
1976 Hans Binder A NIL (Durex Surtees-Cosworth)
1976 Warwick Brown NZ NIL (Retired from F.1 but won the Rothmans International Series in Australia in 1977 and was runner up to the 1978 U.S. CanAm series.)
1976 Masami Kuwashima JAP NIL (Formula 2 and the F2 series for the rest of his career.)
WILLIAMS F1
Saudi Leyland Williams FW1 Ford (NIL)
1977 Patrick Neve B NIL (March-Ford)
1977 Loris Kessel CH NIL
Saudi Leyland Williams Ford (9th)
1978 Alan Jones AUS 11th (2nd at Watkins Glen)
Saudi Leyland Williams Ford (3rd)
1979 Alan Jones AUS 3rd (1st at Hockenheim)
1979 Clay Regazzoni CH 5th (Won British GP/Signed with Ensign-Ford)
Saudi Leyland TAG Williams-Ford (1st)
1980 Alan Jones AUS WORLD CHAMPION (67 pts.)
1980 Carlos Reutemann ARG 3rd
Saudi Leyland TAG Williams-Ford (1st)
1981 Carlos Reutemann ARG 2nd (Only 1 pt. from being World Champion.)
1981 Alan Jones AUS 3rd (Takes a one-year sabbatical from racing. No F.1 driver ever retired after winning his last race, but Jones. Returned in 1983 with Arrows.)
1981 Emilio de Villota E NIL (March-Ford)
Saudi Leyland TAG Williams-Ford (4th)
1982 Kéke Rosberg FIN WORLD CHAMPION (44 pts.)
1982 Derek Daly GB 13th (Replaced Reutemann/Signed with Indy Cars.)
1982 Carlos Reutemann ARG 15th (Suddenly retired from F.1. Entered politics in Argentina.)
1982 Mario Andretti USA 19th (Ferrari)
Williams-Honda (4th)
1983 Kéke Rosberg FIN 5th
1983 Jacques Laffite F 11th
1983 Jonathan Palmer GB NIL (RAM-Hart)
Williams-Honda (6th)
1984 Kéke Rosberg FIN 8th
1984 Jacques Laffite F 14th (Ligier-Renault)
Williams-Honda (T-3rd)
1985 Kéke Rosberg FIN 3rd (TAG-McLaren)
1985 Nigel Mansell GB 6th (Won at Silverstone)
Williams-Honda (1st)
1986 Nigel Mansell GB 2nd (Only 2 pts. from being World Champion.)
1986 Nelson Piquet BR 3rd (Only 1 pt. off second place.)
Williams-Honda (1st)
1987 Nelson Piquet BR WORLD CHAMPION (73 pts.) His third World Championship title. He wanted to retire but was persuaded to join Lotus.)
1987 Nigel Mansell GB 2nd
1987 Ricardo Patresse I 13th (Replaced the injured Mansell for two races.)
Williams-Judd (7th)
1988 Nigel Mansell GB 9th (Ferrari)
1988 Ricardo Patresse I 11th
1988 Martin Brundle GB NIL (1 race. Signed with Brabham-Judd)
1988 Jean-Louis Schlesser F NIL
Williams-Renault (3rd)
1989 Riccardo Patresse I 3rd
1989 Thierry Boutsen B 5th
Williams-Renault (4th)
1990 Thierry Boutsen B 6th (Ligier-Lamborghini)
1990 Riccardo Patresse I 7th
Williams-Renault (2nd)
1991 Nigel Mansell GB 2nd
1991 Riccardo Patresse I 3rd
Williams-Renault (1st)
1992 Nigel Mansell GB WORLD CHAMPION (108 pts.) At the time, it was the most points won by a driver. One of the most exciting races in Formula One history was the battle between Mansell and Senna along the course of Monte Carlo. Senna beat Mansell by 0.2 seconds. Mansell signed with Newman-Haas Indy Cars and won the PPG Championship in 1993. The frist driver to win both Championships consecutively.)
1992 Riccardo Patresse I 2nd (Benetton-Ford)
Williams-Renault (1st)
1993 Alain Prost F WORLD CHAMPION (99 pts.) His fourth World Championship title. Realizing his foe, Aryton Senna, was to join in 1994, Prost handed in his resignation. He signed as an advisor for McLaren before taking the reigns at Ligier, renaming it Team Prost.
1993 Damon Hill GB 3rd
Williams-Renault (1st)
1994 Damon Hill GB 2nd (Lost the World Championship title by 1 pt. Vying for the title on the last race in Adelaide, the leader, Michael Schumacher, grazed the wall only to ricochet into Hill’s passing car, eliminating both cars. Mansell went on to win the race, but Schumacher was declared the Champion.)
1994 David Coulthard GB 8th (Replaced the retired Mansell.)
1994 Nigel Mansell GB 9th (Mansell drove in both Formula One and Indy but it proved to be too much and he retired from racing to pursue other business interests.)
1994 Aryton Senna BR NIL (At Imola, Senna lost control of his car that slammed into the wall at the Tamburello corner at over 180 mph. He died instantly leaving behind a brilliant legacy – three time World Champion. Brazil went into mourning. An estimated three million people lined the streets to give him their salute. Many prominent motor racing figures attended Senna’s state funeral, notably Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi who were among the pallbearers.)
Williams-Renault (2nd)
1995 Damon Hill GB 2nd
1995 David Coulthard GB 3rd (McLaren-Mercedes)
Williams-Renault (1st)
1996 Damon Hill GB WORLD CHAMPION (97 pts.) He was fired and signed with Arrows-Yamaha.
1996 Jacques Villeneuve CAN 2nd (He had won the PPG Indy Championship the preceeding year.)
Williams-Renault (1st)
1997 Jacques Villeneuve CAN WORLD CHAMPION (81 pts.) Again, during the last race of the year, Schumacher seemed intent on clipping Villeneuve’s car out of contention, but it failed. Schumacher ended up in the gravel and disgraced.)
1997 Heinz-Harald Frentzen D 3rd
Williams-Mecachrome (3rd)
1998 Jacques Villeneuve CAN 6th (BAR-Supertec)
1998 Heinz-Harald Frentzen D 8th (Jordan-Mugan Honda)
Williams-Supertec (5th)
1999 Ralf Schumacher D 6th
1999 Alessandro Zanardi I NIL (Prior to joining F.1, Zanardi had won two consecutive PPG Indy Championships. He was considered fast and aggressive, but was relatively uncompetitive. Signed with CART only to crash resulting in the loss of both legs.)
Williams-BMW (3rd)
2000 Ralf Schumacher D 5th
2000 Jenson Button GB 8th (Mild-Seven Benetton)
Williams-BMW (3rd)
2001 Ralf Schumacher D 4th
2001 Juan-Pablo Montoya COL 6th
Williams-BMW (2nd)
2002 Juan-Pablo Montoya COL 3rd
2002 Ralf Schumacher D 4th
Hewson Packard Williams-BMW (2nd)
2003 Juan-Pablo Montoya COL 3rd (Won at Monaco. The last time Williams won at Monaco was 20 years earlier.)
2003 Ralf Schumacher D 5th (Brilliant driving at Hungarian GP starting from last position and ending in 4th. Heavy accident during Monza practice resulting in a concussion, missing one race and ending any realistic opportunity in his bid for the World Championship.)
2003 Marc Gené F (Test driver replaces the injured Schumacher.)
Hewson Packard Williams-BMW (3rd)
2004 Juan-Pablo Montoya COL 3rd (McLaren-Mercedes)
2004 Ralf Schumacher D 4th (Toyota)
Hewson Packard Williams-BMW (5th)
NOTE: BMW declines to return as William’s sponsor to pursue their own team.
2005 Nick Heidfeld D 11th (Missed the second half of the season due to injuries.)
2005 Mark Webber AUS 10th
2005 Pedro de la Rosa BR NIL (Replaces the injured Heidfeld/Test driver for McLaren.)
Williams-Cosworth (11th 11 pts.)
2006 Mark Webber AUS 16th (7 pts.) (Red Bull Racing)
2006 Nico Rosberg D 17th (4 pts.)
Williams-Toyota (31 pts.)
2007 Nico Rosberg D 9th (18 pts.)
2007 Alexander Wurz A 11th (13 pts.)
RBS Williams-Toyota (8th 25 pts.)
2008 Nico Rosberg D 13th (11 pts.)
2008 Kazuki Nakajima JAP 15th (8 pts.)
RBS Williams-Toyota (7th 34,5 pts.)
2009 Nico Rosberg D 7th (34,5 pts.)
2009 Kazuki Nakajima JAP 20th (NIL)
AT&T Williams-Cosworth (6th 69 pts.)
2010 Rubens Barrichello BR 10th (47 pts.)
2010 Nico Hülkenberg D 14th (23 pts.)
RBS Williams-Cosworth (9th 5 pts.)
2011 Rubens Barrichello BR 17th (4 pts.)
2011 Pastor Maldorado VEN 19th (1 pts.)
2011 Nico Hulkenberg D NIL (Heads to Force India as their reserve driver)

Number of Drivers’ Championships: 7
Number of Constructors’Championships: 9

WOLF RACING

TEAM: WOLF
NATIONALITY: CAN
INCEPTION: 1976-1979
COMMENT: Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1976 to 1980. In 1975, the Slovenian-Austrian-Canadian businessman Walter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% of Frank Williams Racing Cars while agreeing to keep Frank Williams as manager of the team.
Simultaneously Wolf bought the assets of the Hesketh team that had recently withdrawn from F1. The team was based in the Williams facility at Reading but used most of the cars and equipment once owned by Hesketh Racing. The Hesketh 308C became known as the Wolf-Williams FW05 and soon afterwards Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite arrived as chief engineer. Jacky Ickx and Frenchman Michel Leclère were hired to drive. The team, however, was not very competitive and failed to qualify at a number of races during the year. Leclère left after the French Grand Prix and was replaced by Arturo Merzario while Ickx failed to perform and was dropped after the British Grand Prix, to be followed by a string of pay-drivers. At the end of 1976, Wolf decided that the team needed restructuring. He removed Frank Williams from the manager’s job and replaced him with Peter Warr from Team Lotus. Disillusioned, Williams soon left the team, taking Patrick Head and several others to set up Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Wolf-Ford (NIL)
1976 Jackie Ickx B NIL (Ensign-Ford)
1976 Michel Leclere F NIL (Formula 2. Retired from professional racing.)
Wolf-Ford (4th 55 pts.)
1977 Jody Scheckter RSA 2nd (55 pts.)(Won the car’s debut in Argentina)
Wolf-Ford (5th 24 pts.)
1978 Jody Scheckter RSA 7th (24 pts.) (Ferrari)
1978 Bobby Rahal USA NIL (Indy Cars)
Olympus Wolf-Ford (NIL)
1979 James Hunt GB NIL (Retired from F.1. Never one to take himself too seriously, Hunt endeared himself to the British public with his charisma and public schoolboy charm and brought a whole new audience to Formula One in the mid 1970s. Despite his Formula One career only lasting six seasons Hunt remains one of the few drivers of the era to be widely remembered amongst the general public, in part due to his colourful and often acerbic commentary for the BBC (for F.1.), which he took up following his retirement and maintained until his death of a heart attack in 1993.
1979 Kéke Rosberg FIN NIL (Skol Fittipaldi-Cosworth)