Despite Williams entering Formula One in the 1970's and well after both Ferrari and McLaren and only on a shoestring budget to begin with, the Williams team have the pride and prestige of saying they hold the most cup victories. They won their record ninth title in 1997.

Frank Williams is living proof that one can overcome adversity. Only a driver of amateur talent, Frank developed a firm friendship with Piers Courage and together they teamed up in 1969. The following season Frank ran Piers in a de Tomaso, but it was nowhere up to the standard of the Brabham he had raced in 69. Piers was tragically killed in a fiery accident in the Dutch Grand Prix later that year and Frank was devastated. He struggled financially, running a selection of paying no-hopers. He teamed up with Walter Wolf in 1976, but that turned very sour, so the decision was made, he founded Williams Grand Prix Engineering with Patrick Head. While Frank was spending many hours trying to attract Saudi Arabian backing, Patrick's FW06 allowed Alan Jones to put in some decent performances in 1978. The Williams team first Grand Prix victory came in 1979 when Clay Regazzoni won in the FW07 at Silverstone, then Alan Jones went on to finish the season with some great drives.

In 1980, Alan Jones had a new teammate, Carlos Reutemann and that year Jones won the drivers title and Williams first Constructors title. The team won again the following year, although Jones lost out to Nelson Piquet in the drivers fight and quit the sport. Turbos began to appear, but Keke Rosberg won the drivers title still in the Ford Cosworth powered Williams, although the team didn't celebrate victory that season, Ferrari did. A deal was struck with Honda, and although the V6 turbo was heavy and brutal, with development and time, the team once again saw victory in 86 although the drivers title went to Alain Prost due to a blow out on Mansells' car in Adelaide with only 18 laps to go.

Although the team saw victory with the Constructors title again that year, they also saw tragedy as Frank Williams was involved in a car accident on his way back from testing at Paul Ricard and was paralysed.

In 1987 with Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell in his cars, Frank watched as his drivers once again won both the drivers and Constructors championship in the FW11. Piquet left for Lotus the following year and as well as losing a driver, the team lost the Honda engines, which proved dreadful for the 1988 season. After struggling through the year, 1989 saw them team up with Renault and although the cars were fast, they didn't have a good driver line up until 1991 when Mansell returned after his two year spell with Ferrari. Although the new FW14 was a superb machine, Mansell lost out to McLarens' Ayrton Senna due to gearbox reliability problems, but the following year, Mansell was unbeatable, winning nine straight races to win both titles for Williams once again.

After a battle over contracts, Mansell left for Indy racing and Alain Prost claimed his seat, delivering Williams second back-to-back double victory. Frank was the first team owner to give Senna a test in a Formula One car, and he wanted the Brazilian star on his team. He eventually signed the greatest driver of those times for the 94 season, but tragically, Ayrton was killed in only his third race for the team. With this latest blow, Frank and the team's moral were at an all time low. Damon Hill rose from the teams test driver to fill Senna's' empty seat and saved the terribly sad year by challenging Michael Schumacher for the crown. Although the Englishman lost out on the drivers' crown, he did secure another Constructors title for the team.

In 1995, Benetton also had use of the great Renault engines, as well as the superb driving of Michael Schumacher. Williams only scored five wins that year, four for Damon Hill and one for David Coulthard as poor race strategy cost them dearly. 1996 was by far a better year, with Jacques Villeneuve, fresh from Indy Cars and Damon Hill won all bar four races between them. Hill won the drivers� crown with Jacques a close second, and between them, they delivered Franks' eighth Constructors trophy. Damon left the team at the end of that season, and Villeneuve, partnered now by Heinz-Harald Frentzen went on to win Williams third back-to-back double victory. Their record ninth victory.

Unfortunately for the team, a combination of things made the 98 and 99 seasons nothing short of disasters. Renault quit the Formula One scene and they were left with the under powered Supertec engines and McLaren looked certain to reclaim their dominance from earlier years. At the end of the 97 season, Jacques left for the new revamped Tyrrell team, renamed BAR while Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined Jordan. For 1999, Frank signed the then CART World champion, Alex Zanardi, hoping for a repeat of Villeneuves winning drives. Alongside him was Ralf Schumacher. Although Zanardi proved to be well below what Frank was looking for, and finished the season pointless, Ralf had grown in leaps and bounds as a driver and secured a few podium finishes, but it wasn't enough and the team finished the lowest it has in the past ten years, down in fifth.

Alex Zanardi didn�t start the 2000 season with the team, after his contract was terminated in January of 2000. Williams opted to go for the raw young talent of 20-year-old English driver, Jenson Button in the hope that he could deliver what Zanardi couldn�t. The season was a lot better with the arrival of the new BMW engines, despite the fact that the team thought they wouldn�t do any better than mid field, between both drivers, they managed to secure third place in the constructors fight. Button proved to be a blessing in disguise, however Sir Frank was faced with a very tough choice, to keep the young Englishman or opt for Colombian superstar, Juan Pablo Montoya. He opted to go for the latter, loaning Button out to the Benetton team for two years.

Ralf drove Karts from an early age, but he launched into his racing career in Formula Three in 1994, joining WTS Racing, which was owned by brother Michael's mentor, Willi Weber. His first win for the team came at the end of the 94 season giving him needed points to rank third overall, behind Jorg Muller and Alexander Wurz.

His second season was a battle for the title with Norberto Fontana, which he lost. In 1996 he progressed to Formula 3000, winning three races and taking the title at the final round. 1997 saw his entry into Formula One, racing for the Jordan team. He proved fast, achieving his first podium result, a third place, in Argentina, the third race of the season. Although he had the raw speed, Ralf tended to crash a lot. The 97 season saw him retire from 10 races, half of which were accident related, and it appeared as if 1998 was to be the same. Partnered with Damon Hill, by mid season he showed that he too, like Michael, could excel under wet conditions, bringing home Jordan's first point for the season in a wet Silverstone race.

From that race on, he showed speed and consistency, culminating in his best finish ever, a second, in horrendous conditions at Belgium. Despite his good results, he finished 10th overall, and decided to partner Alex Zanardi at Williams for the 99 season. He was on the podium often through the season, outshining his CART champion teammate, who failed to win a point.

Ralf sat on 19 points and 6th in the championship at the halfway mark, and he continued to impress not only his bosses, but also most of the paddock. His passion was obvious as was the fact that he had learned to control his earlier erratic drives very well. He finished the season with thirty-five points while his teammate was pointless. He remained with Williams in 2000, the team merging with BMW, in their return to the sport. Although many expected that the team would only run mid field at best, including the team themselves, Ralf put in some very strong drives throughout the year, including a podium finish in their debut race at Albert Park. The team ended up third in the constructors championship and the 2001 season sees them aiming even higher, with young Ralf looking to his first career victory.

Juan Pablo Montoya began his racing career in kart racing back in 1981, taking the National Kart Championship in the children�s division three years later. The Colombian continued in the series with the next few years, taking second place in 85 and the Championship in the local and national junior division in 86. From 87 to 89, Juan Pablo took several local and national titles in the Kart Komet category, before taking the Kart Junior world championships in 1990 and 1991.

In 1992 this very talented youngster took part in the USA Barber series as well as competing in Copa Formula Renault in his native Colombia, winning four times from five pole positions. The following year he took part in the National Tournament Swift GTI Championship, securing seven wins out of eight races and only missing out on one pole position. 1994 was a busy year with a class win in the Sudam 125 Karting championship, a third place in the USA Barber Saab Championship and three wins out of five races in the Formula N class Mexico, securing four pole positions along the way. His stunning performances didn�t end there, this gifted Colombian taking third place in the British Formula Vauxhall Championship as well as the class win in the Bogota Six Hours in 1995.

Juan took the British Formula 3 championship the following year as well as a fourth place in the Zandvoort Marlboro Masters, a win in the Bogota Six Hours as well as taking part in the ITC Race at Silverstone for Mercedes. While driving for the Marko team in 1997, he came second in the Formula 3000 championship and this was the year he had his first taste of Formula One. Accepting the role of test driver, Williams quickly signed the young man, securing his future ride in F1.

He won the F3000 championship the following year while competing for Supernova, with a record points total of 65 points for the season. Frank Williams then organized a swap deal for the Colombian for the 1999 season, taking Alex Zanardi from the American CART series to compete alongside Ralf Schumacher in F1 while Juan took up the role in the Chip Ganassi team. Here he flourished, taking the CART title in his rookie year. He claimed 7 wins throughout the season as well as seven poles, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the sport.

Although Frank Williams wanted Montoya back for the 2000 season, Juan wanted to remain in the CART series for at least another season. With the Ganassi outfit switching to Toyota engines, it wasn�t the season he had hoped for, however he did come 9th in the series with three wins and seven pole positions. He also won the Indianapolis 500 on his very first attempt.

Now he has returned to the Williams team where he will take up the role as driver alongside the younger Schumacher brother and he is hoping to visit the podium on several occasions throughout the 2001 season