2012  Red Bull WHP has also seen its flywheel technology introduced into a series of buses as part of a deal with the Go-Ahead Group, one of the UK's biggest transport operators. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. BMW paid for Williams cars to be entirely in blue and white – unlike the standard motorsport livery scheme, dominated by the colours of the team or major sponsors with the logos of minor sponsors in their own colour schemes. The Renault era started in 1989, with Italian Riccardo Patrese and Belgian Thierry Boutsen at the helm of the two Williams cars. Williams then had to pay for Mecachrome engines, which were old, rebadged Renault F1 engines. The rest of the season was disappointing for Williams, with 20 retirements out of 36 starts for the two cars. Drivers for Williams have included Australia's Alan Jones; Finland's Keke Rosberg; Britain's Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, David Coulthard and Jenson Button; Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya; France's Alain Prost; Brazil's Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna; Italy's Ricardo Patrese; and Canada's Jacques Villeneuve. After Brazil, the team ended with a ninth place in the Constructors' Championship. Hill would retire for the second time in a row after he spun-off in Spain, while his teammate, Villeneuve, took third place. [49] AT&T was previously involved as minor sponsors with the Jaguar and McLaren teams but moved to Williams following McLaren's announcement of a title sponsorship deal with Vodafone, a competitor of AT&T. Hill won the next two races in Argentina and San Marino and would later win races at The Hungaroring and in Adelaide. [63] At the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado took his only Grand Prix victory, which was also Williams's first race victory since 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix. The team's best result of the season came in Germany, where Kubica was classified 10th, the team's only points finish that season. Claire Williams is confident the team's new owners have the financial firepower and wherewithal to take the former champions up the field, although … With their removal in 1994, Williams had not been a good-handling car, as observed by other F1 drivers, having been seen to be very loose at the rear. The team began the season with a radical nose-cone design, known as the "Walrus-Nose", that proved uncompetitive and was replaced by a more conventional assembly in Hungary. This stood as a record until Ferrari surpassed it in 2000. [100], WAE generated revenues of £10.9m in fiscal year 2014–15, with profits of £1m.[101]. [91] The amount includes settling the debt of the company as well and it will continue to run under the Williams name and keep its UK-base. Greater successes followed when Williams cars finished first and second at the next round in Hockenheim, Alan Jones two seconds ahead of Regazzoni. The team did not win a race that season and finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 20 points. The engine's first Grand Prix in Brazil was one that the team preferred to forget: Boutsen retired with an engine failure and Patrese with an alternator failure after leading, although Patrese did qualify second. Williams managed their first podium position at the United States Grand Prix, where the Australian came second, some 20 seconds behind the Ferrari of future Williams driver Carlos Reutemann. As part of the deal, the team became Williams Martini Racing, except in Bahrain, Russia and Abu Dhabi, where the team is known as Williams Racing because of alcohol advertising restrictions. While Rosberg managed to obtain 2 podiums in Australia and Singapore, the team struggled at circuits with high-speed corners. 1961  Ferrari The next race saw Patrese finish second again, having started from 14th on the grid, with Boutsen 6th. He would move over to Benetton, which was still running rebadged Renault engines, for what was the team’s final season under that name. Soon afterwards, the team secured a sponsorship deal with Lenovo who built the team's new supercomputer. Through subsidiary Williams Hybrid Power, the company developed and supplied a flywheel-based kinetic-energy storage system which was in use on a Porsche 911 GT3 R car in various GT racing series. In April 2014, Williams Hybrid Power was sold to GKN.[102]. 1975  Ferrari Williams finished second in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 125 points in total, 14 points behind McLaren. Williams' second major sponsor became Compaq, and following Compaq's acquisition the team debuted Hewlett-Packard (HP) sponsorship at the 2002 British Grand Prix. 1982  Ferrari All of the news and information from our social networks. There were major sponsorship changes for 2000–2005, as Rothmans International had been purchased in 1999 by British American Tobacco (BAT), which owned British American Racing and chose not to renew Rothmans' contract with Williams. British driver Nigel Mansell joined the team to partner with Rosberg. In 2001, the arrangement between Williams and Ganassi came to an end, and thus Williams was able to bring Juan Pablo Montoya back to drive full-time for the team. [76] Renault reserve driver and 2016 GP2 Series 3rd-place finisher Sergey Sirotkin was signed as his replacement for 2018,[77] with Robert Kubica joining the team as a reserve and development driver.[78]. 1986  Williams Speculation had been surrounding Toyota's future on the Formula 1 grid. Instead, the team was issued the number 0, which was placed on Hill’s car. 1993 marked the final season that Williams ran with Canon as its primary backer. 1999 was the most difficult season for Williams, as Menu left Renault after racing with them since 1993. Coming to the final round of the season at Jerez, Schumacher led Villeneuve by 1 point; however, on lap 48, Schumacher and Villeneuve collided. The team won no races and took only 3 podiums during the season, with Frentzen finishing in third at the first round in Australia and Villeneuve finishing third in Germany and Hungary. Claire Williams, Formula One's only female team boss, will step down after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix with founder Frank also leaving following last month's sale to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital. [citation needed], The company provides the battery technology used in Formula E,[97] and has assisted the development of the electric Vanda Dendrobium car from Singapore. [109], The MG Metro 6R4 was developed by Williams for the 1986 World Rally Championship, The Williams-engineered Renault Laguna BTCC car ran between 1995 and 1999 and won two manufacturers' titles and one drivers' title. The Japanese driver finished in tenth despite starting from near the back of the grid, while Rosberg enjoyed his best race of the season, finishing in fourth. Williams won the Constructors' Championship with 164 points, 65 points more than second-place McLaren. The team secured an engine supply from Renault in 1989. 1997 was a breakthrough year for Williams, winning the drivers' championship with Menu, the manufacturers' trophy and teams' award. In April 2014, Williams Hybrid Power were sold to GKN. On 1 May 2019, Williams Advanced Engineering announced their partnership with the FIA sanctioned electric off-road racing series, Extreme E. Williams Advanced Engineering will supply the batteries for the first two seasons of Extreme E. The inaugural season of Extreme E began in 2021 in Saudi Arabia. With three races left, 1992 champion Nigel Mansell returned from CART (where the season had concluded) to replace Coulthard for the remainder of the season. Based on his finish in the previous season’s points standings, Senna was issued car number 2 for the season. Senna won the next race in Monaco, ahead of both Williams cars, which finished second and third. For 1996, Williams had the quickest and most reliable car, the FW18. [103] The design was originally created for a new, more-powerful offshoot of the Formula Palmer Audi series, however the car was re-purposed when Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision successfully bid for the rights to run the new Formula Two series. Prost decided to go out on top, as shortly after Senna signed he announced his retirement from motorsports. 1966  Brabham 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 Jacarepaguá and the fifth round at Zolder. The team started well in the championship, with Jones winning the first round of the season in Argentina. The rally car was a MG Metro with a completely new V6 engine (mid-engined) and four-wheel drive, developed to the international Group B rallying regulations. Williams retained Rosberg and Nakajima for the 2009 season. Alan Jones drove the second car, his first appearance for Williams since 1981. 2011  Red Bull View F1 statistics for the Williams F1 constructor, including stats by season, Grand Prix, circuit and Williams driver stats. Williams would also have been issued car number 1 for 1994, but Prost’s retirement caused the number to not be issued (as was the case per F1 rules at the time; the FIA would later allow drivers to select their own numbers). Williams finished third in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 71 points. 1969  Matra, 1970  Lotus The team eventually finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship, with only 11 points. While returning to the airport at Nice, France, after pre-season testing at Paul Ricard, he was involved in a road accident that left him paralysed. Williams won the Constructors' title for the second year running, scoring 95 points, 34 points more than second-placed Brabham. [88] In May 2020, following publication of significant losses in 2019, Williams announced the immediate termination of its title sponsorship deal with ROKiT. Shop the 2020 Teamwear range including T-Shirt, Polo, Jacket and special edition George Russell and Nicholas Latifi Formula 1 Team Caps. The company … [24] At the next race in Monaco, Damon Hill was the only Williams on the grid, as a mark of respect to Senna,[25] and retired on the first lap. Hill won two laps ahead of the field at Adelaide in one of F1's most dominating victories. The FW23 won four races, three by Ralf Schumacher at Imola, Montreal, and his home Grand Prix in Germany. Mansell then won again at the British Grand Prix; it had been four years since a Briton had won the Grand Prix, Mansell having won it in 1987. Williams also achieved the 100-race-win milestone at the British Grand Prix. Williams and Cosworth entered a partnership agreement where Cosworth would supply engines, transmissions and associated electronics and software for the team. [citation needed]. Their new 2010 car, the Williams FW32, was unveiled for the first time at a shakedown test at Silverstone. [44] Williams's failed attempt to prise Jenson Button out of his BAR contract may also have been an issue with Theissen. [9], In February 2011, Williams F1 announced plans to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) in March 2011, with Sir Frank Williams remaining the majority shareholder and team principal after the IPO. Replacing Hülkenberg in the test seat was Finland's Valtteri Bottas, who finished third in the 2009 Formula Three Euroseries as well as winning the non-championship Masters of Formula 3 event at Zandvoort.[56]. Williams won nine Constructors' Championships between 1980 and 1997. Instead, Damon Hill was promoted to take the second Williams ride and Senna returned to McLaren for a final season, driving a Ford-powered car. Upgrades came during the season with which the FW42 began to catch up to its competitors; Russell came within 0.1 seconds of reaching Q2 in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix and finished close to the points with 12th in Brazil. [62] The team also announced that its relationship with AT&T ended by mutual agreement, and there were negotiations with another telecommunications company for team's title sponsorship. He won the Drivers' title that year despite winning only one race, the Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois. At the sixth round in Montreal, Williams not only scored their first win with the Renault engine but also their first one-two: Thierry Boutsen came first followed by Patrese, resulting in 15 points for Williams's championship campaign. Williams could have opted to continue with BMW engines in 2006, despite the fact that the engine manufacturer was about to set up its own team. Rosberg was confirmed as staying with Williams until the end of 2009 on 9 December 2007, ending speculation that he could take Fernando Alonso's vacated seat at McLaren. [80][81] For the 2019 season, the team entered into a partnership with Polish petroleum company PKN Orlen and a multi-year title sponsorship arrangement with telecommunications company ROKiT. After 1997, the team was unable to maintain their dominance in Formula 1 as Renault ended their full-time involvement in Formula 1, and Adrian Newey moved to the rival team, McLaren. The Williams name and logo were used on the Renault Clio Williams, a limited sports model of the production supermini, which was Formula One's safety car in 1996 Argentine Grand Prix. [37] Williams did improve on their Constructors' Championship position, finishing in second. The division's headquarters are located at the Formula One team's Grove site and also manages and looks after the Williams Grand Prix collection. He would eventually return to CART. After the termination of their Toyota contract, Williams announced that from the 2010 season they were to enter into a "long-term partnership" with Cosworth, and would be using an updated version of the CA V8 engine which powered their cars in 2006. His seat was filled by Mario Andretti for the US Grand Prix West before Derek Daly took over for the rest of the year. The Grand Prix at Monaco saw Mansell finish in a points-scoring position, coming second, 18 seconds behind Ayrton Senna. 1996  Williams Alain Prost ended his year-long sabbatical from competition following his 1991 firing by Scuderia Ferrari, and Williams was interested in bringing him in. 1998 saw few changes to the Williams team: the driver line-up was unchanged with Menu to defend his title alongside Plato, but the main sponsor for 1998 was Nescafé, with Renault still putting sponsorship in for the team. © Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited. The new team failed to score a point, achieving a best finish of 7th at the Italian Grand Prix.[14]. The team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams's earlier unsuccessful F1 operation: Frank Williams Racing Cars (which later became Wolf–Williams Racing in 1976). Williams F1, 25/03/2021 12:01: 1 : Williams F1 25/03/2021 12:01: Bahrain GP: Williams Racing Grand Prix Preview Williams F1, 25/03/2021 08:23: 1 : Williams F1 25/03/2021 08:23: Williams Racing appoints Demaison as Technical Director Williams F1, 23/03/2021 10:36: 18 : Mr Brooksy 23/03/2021 22:55: Williams Racing where to now? [64] The team eventually achieved eighth position in the Formula One World Constructors' Championship. Shop our exclusive merchandise collection including teddy bear, backpack, baby onesie, umbrella and more. This collision has been controversial. 2019  Mercedes, British Formula One motor racing team and constructor, Not to be confused with former Formula One team, Other motorsports and Williams-branded cars, British Touring Car Championship (1995–1999), Le Mans 24 Hours and Sportscars (1998–2000), Teams and drivers that are contracted to compete in the. Friday practice report from the Bahrain Grand Prix. 1977  Ferrari Despite Frank Williams's rare decision to capitulate to commercial demands by employing German driver Nick Heidfeld when he allegedly preferred Antônio Pizzonia, the fallout between Williams and BMW continued through the 2005 Formula One season. Claire Williams and Sir Frank Williams stepped down from their management roles on 6 September 2020, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being their last time in their respective positions. While Ferrari and McLaren battled for the Constructors' and Drivers' titles, Williams fell to the middle of the field. For more information on the cookies we use and for details on how we process your personal information, please see our Privacy Policy. Williams came second in the Constructors' Championship, scoring 77 points in total; 64 points behind McLaren. Schumacher, whose Benetton team had switched engine suppliers from Ford to Renault in the off-season, won the first round in Brazil, with Coulthard taking second. Williams finished second in the Constructors' Championship, two points ahead of McLaren. It was these technological advancements that the Williams chassis of the previous years had been built around. WAE announced in June 2013 a new collaboration with Nismo, the performance-orientated brand of Nissan, to partner in the development of high-performance road cars. Simon Roberts, who joined Williams from McLaren in May 2020, became the acting team principal of the team. Schumacher was disqualified from second place in the championship as the accident was deemed by the FIA as "avoidable". Hill proved competitive especially in the second half of the season. Williams won the first five Grands Prix, Hill winning all but one of them. Boutsen finished 5th in the championship with 37 points after also winning in Australia. [50] On 2 February, the new FW29 was presented to the media in the UK. In March 1986, Frank Williams faced the most serious challenge of his life. All Formula One race and championship results are taken from: 1960  Cooper It exists purely to race in the top echelon of motor racing, where it has been winning grands prix for more than three decades. 1987  Williams In the wet qualifying for the next race, the Styrian Grand Prix, Russell succeeded in making it out of Q1, the first time a Williams driver had done so since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix,[citation needed] and, in the slippery conditions, qualified in 12th. Although World Championship races held in 1952 and 1953 were run to Formula Two regulations, constructors who only participated during this period are included herein to maintain Championship continuity. 2017  Mercedes Along the way, Williams designed some of the most innovative and celebrated cars in F1, including the FW14B and FW15 of 1992 and 1993, which were packed with new technology such as active suspension. Jacques Villeneuve won the Drivers' Championship by three points to Michael Schumacher, who kept his points total despite being removed from second place; thus, runner-up went to Frentzen with 42 points.[30]. In the 1990 season, Williams kept Patrese and Boutsen as the team's drivers. Renault ultimately finished third in the manufacturers trophy and second in the teams championship. Despite having signed a contract to race for Williams, Jenson Button decided to stay with BAR for 2006 as it was to become a Honda works team. Dorilton Group undoubtedly looks forward to working with Williams. Formula One F1 – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy – Williams’ George Russell during a press conference FIA/Handout via REUTERS. With Bottas qualifying alongside Massa, it was also the first time the team had locked out the front row since the 2003 German Grand Prix. Going into the final round at Adelaide, Schumacher led Hill by a single point. During qualifying at the season-opener in Australia, their fastest time was almost 1.3 seconds slower than the nearest competitor. 2013  Red Bull Mansell went on to record four more Grand Prix wins, including at the British Grand Prix. [61] In January 2012, it was confirmed that Bruno Senna would be the driver to partner Maldonado, effectively ending Rubens Barrichello's F1 career. Williams finished third in the Constructors' Championship, with 36 points, one more than the prior year. Williams was founded back in 1977 by former team owner Sir Frank Williams and automotive engineer Sir Patrick Head. 2009  Brawn, 2010  Red Bull Olivier Panis would take victory at the sixth round in Monaco after both Williams cars retired. As part of the deal, BMW expected at least one driver to be German, which led to the team's signing of Ralf Schumacher for the subsequent season. Frank recruited young engineer Patrick Head to work for the team, creating the "Williams–Head" partnership. By the end of the season, Frank Williams realised that to compete at the top levels of Formula One he needed the support of a major manufacturer, such as Renault or BMW who could supply his team with a turbocharged engine. Senna took pole in the first two races but failed to finish either of them. Button made scrappy mistakes in early races (Monaco, Europe), but overall made an impressive debut in Melbourne, and continued to impress, notably at Silverstone, Spa, and Suzuka. 1993  Williams GROVE, England — Williams Racing said Thursday that Claire Williams is stepping down as deputy principal and will be leaving the F1 team with … Patrese decided to leave the team in the midst of this, joining Michael Schumacher at Benetton. [98] It has worked with Jaguar to create the revolutionary C-X75 hybrid supercar. The V12 LMR won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999. 1991  McLaren Head designed the FW07 for the 1979 season with Frank Dernie picking up the aerodynamic development and skirt design. [citation needed]. [82][83], Williams missed the first two-and-a-half days of pre-season testing in Barcelona due to the FW42 not yet being ready, the only team to suffer such a setback. The team's only other points finish was at the Italian Grand Prix, with Stroll finishing 9th and Sirotkin scoring his first championship point in 10th. The team finished sixth with 25.5 points, with Rosberg eighth in the Drivers' Championship. 2005  Renault Meanwhile, Nigel Mansell won the last Grand Prix of his career here, driving the second Williams car. Despite this, there looked to be significant upheaval at Williams for 1993. [72], In September 2016, Massa announced his intentions to retire from Formula One, with Stroll later announced as his replacement for 2017. The team won its first pole position since 2012, courtesy of Massa at the Austrian Grand Prix; it was the only time that Mercedes would be beaten to pole position over the course of the 2014 season. [47] Major sponsors Hewlett-Packard concluded sponsorship agreements one year before their official end of contract. Damon Hill placed second in the Drivers' Championship, 33 points behind Benetton's Michael Schumacher. That was to no avail as Williams endured one of their worst seasons to date: two ninth places for Barrichello and one tenth place for Maldonado were their best results during the entire year. The 2008 season was a mixture of success and disappointment for Williams. Montoya finished third in the Drivers' Championship, eight points ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who finished fourth. At the following race, in Mexico, Williams achieved a 1–2, Patrese finishing ahead of Mansell to score 16 points for the Williams team. Editor's Picks Bahrain GP - U.S. TV schedule Das Williams F1 Team (Williams Racing) ist ein britisches Rennsportteam mit Sitz im englischen Grove, das seit 1977 in der Formel 1 aktiv ist. 1995  Benetton [89], In the opening race of 2020, the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Latifi reached 11th place, just outside the points, whereas in qualifying Russell was only 0.15 seconds away from reaching Q2 (Russell retired in the race with a fuel pressure issue). Other changes for the team saw Jason Plato replacing Hoy, taking third in the championship. The Williams FW15C was an extremely dominant car, with active suspension and traction control systems beyond anything available to the other teams. When we started this process, we wanted to find a partner […] [75], On 4 November 2017, Felipe Massa announced his decision to retire from F1. 1972  Lotus On 2 May 2019, it was announced that Williams Advanced Engineering will supply the batteries for the multi-make ETCR series that is due to launch in 2020. The next round at Dijon is remembered for the final lap battle between René Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve, but also saw both cars finish in the points for the first time; Jones was fourth with Regazzoni sixth. Williams retained their Constructors' title, 84 points ahead of second-placed McLaren. Williams struggled over the course of the 2018 season, scoring only 7 points and finishing last in the Constructors' Championship standings. Williams F1 Team - History: The partnership between team owner Frank Williams and chief engineer Patrick Head started in 1977, when the newly-formed Williams F1 team made its début in the Spanish Grand Prix with a customer car provided by March Engineering and driven by Patrick Nève . Last week, Russell had commented on the speculation himself. Prost clinched the Drivers' Championship in Portugal and finished the season 26 points ahead of second-placed Senna. The Williams Renault team managed to get back on track with Boutsen coming fourth in the next race at Imola, earning the team three points in their championship campaign. Rosberg and Wurz gave Williams a more productive season in terms of points and, in Montreal, Wurz scored the team's first podium finish since Nick Heidfeld's second-place at the 2005 European Grand Prix. [85], On 19 September 2019, Williams announced that Kubica had decided to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season; he would go on to join Alfa Romeo as a reserve driver. WAE partnered once again with Jaguar to build new stunt C-X75s for the 24th James Bond film, SPECTRE.[99]. Ahead of the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, Williams announced that it would be ending its three-year partnership with Toyota and finding a new engine supplier for 2010. [7], Reuters reported on 20 November 2009 that Williams and Patrick Head had sold a minority stake in the team to an investment company led by Austrian Toto Wolff[8] who said that it was purely a commercial decision. The team went into the 2016 season with Bottas and Massa retained. [31] This meant that the FW20 not only featured a very similar aerodynamic package to their 1997 car but also virtually the same engine, leading some to comment that they ran what was virtually the same car, adjusted for the 1998 regulations. Towards the end of 1978, Frank Williams recruited Frank Dernie to join Patrick Head in the design office. Montoya stayed in contention for the Drivers' Championship during the season, and finished third, 11 points behind Michael Schumacher, while Ralf Schumacher finished fifth, 24 points behind Montoya. The company announced in August 2017 a collaboration with Singer Vehicle Design. Unlike in the 1992 offseason, Williams was able to sign Ayrton Senna. Frentzen proved to be a disappointment though, and won only one race in two years with Williams, the 1997 San Marino Grand Prix. A Williams Grand Prix Engineering (rövidítve Williams F1) egy brit Formula–1-es versenycsapat, melyet Frank Williams és Patrick Head alapított 1977-ben (történetileg a csapat előzményének tekinthető az 1969-től 1976-ig működő Frank Williams Racing Cars). The team scored its first championship points two rounds later at the South African Grand Prix when Jones finished fourth. 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. In 1979 they had discovered as first team the effect of the diffuser at the back of the car, which made their cars almost 2 seconds a lap faster than all other cars on the grid. Of those who have won the championship with Williams, only Jones, Rosberg and Villeneuve actually defended their title while still with the team. Williams also recruited future 1996 world champion, Damon Hill, as one of their new test drivers. 1963  Lotus 2015  Mercedes For what would be the final season of Williams-Renault and a car designed with Newey's input, Frank Williams brought in German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had created a good impression on Williams during his first few seasons in Formula One. Williams eSports will compete in a range of online sim racing competitions this season. Scheckter ended the Williams winning streak when he won Ferrari's home Italian Grand Prix, Regazzoni finishing third behind both Ferraris. Frank Williams looked towards Honda, which was developing its own turbocharged V6 engine with the Spirit team. The race in Japan was held in torrential rain, with Hill managing to win the restarted race, by three seconds on aggregate over Schumacher who finished second. Williams then ran a streak of victories, with Mansell winning the French Grand Prix, five seconds ahead of Alain Prost's Ferrari. 1967  Brabham Williams had greatly improved their Constructors' Championship position, finishing eight places higher than the previous year and scoring 59 more points. With the acquisition, Claire Williams was offered the chance to stay on as a team principal but that offer was declined. For Villeneuve’s ride, Williams sought out a previously unsuccessful former F1 driver, Italian Alex Zanardi, who had been racing in the CART series and had become its most successful driver having won the last two series championships and a total of fifteen races in his three years. Despite BMW's contract with Williams to supply engines until 2009, this public deterioration of the relationship between Williams and BMW was a factor in the decision by BMW Motorsport to buy Sauber and rebrand that team to feature the BMW name.[45]. 1976  Ferrari 2018  Mercedes In qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the 5.793 km (3.600 mi) Monza circuit, Montoya lapped his Williams FW24 in 1:20.264 for an average speed of 161.449 mph (259.827 km/h), breaking the speed record of 160.938 mph (259.005 km/h) set by Keke Rosberg in a Honda turbo-powered Williams FW10 at Silverstone for the 1985 British Grand Prix. The duo won four races for the Williams team in the 1981 season. While other teams were pouring their efforts into electric battery systems, Williams F1 opted to go down the flywheel route because of a strong belief in the technology's wider applications. Williams won the Constructors' title for the second time in a row, scoring 123 points. Rosberg's teammate, Reutemann, finished in 15th place having quit Formula One after just two races of the new season.