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Williams' first race was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix, where the new team ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève. Williams started manufacturing its own cars the following year, and Switzerland's Clay Regazzoni won Williams' first race at the 1979 British Grand Prix. At the 1997 British Grand Prix, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve won the team's 100th race, making Williams one of only three teams in Formula One, alongside Ferrari and fellow British team McLaren, to win 100 races. Williams won nine Constructor's titles between 1980 and 1997. This stood as a record until Ferrari surpassed it in 2000. Many famous racing drivers have driven for Williams, including Australia's Alan Jones; Finland's Keke Rosberg; Britain's Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button; France's Alain Prost; Brazil's Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, and Canada's Jacques Villeneuve, each of whom, with the exception of Senna and Button, have captured one Drivers' title with the team. After Senna died in a Williams car in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Frank Williams, Patrick Head and designer Adrian Newey were all accused of manslaughter. The trial finally closed in 2005, when Williams, Head and Newey were cleared of any wrongdoing. Williams have worked with many notable engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault: Williams won five of their nine constructors' titles with the French company. Along with Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault (formerly Benetton), Williams is one of the "Big Four" teams that won every constructors' championship between 1979 and 2008 and every driver's championship from 1984 to 2008. It was reported on 20 November 2009 by Reuters that Williams and Patrick Head had sold a minority interest in their team to an investment company led by Austrian Toto Wolff who has stated that it is purely a commercial decision. |
